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Winning
by
LOSING
DROP THE WEIGHT,
CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Jillian Michaels
To my mother, Jo Ann McKarus, and my martial arts instructor, Robert David Margolin, two very special people who made
me who I am, who taught me everything I know, who gave me
everything they had to give and then some. Thank you. I only
hope I can help one person in this life as much as you have
both helped me.
C o n t e n t s
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Committing to Change
vi
vii
Part 1: SELF
It’s All About You
1. Getting Real: Planning for Success
2. Recognizing Emotional Triggers
3. Reconﬁguring Your World and
Developing Support Systems
4. The Right Attitude
5. Behavior Modiﬁcation: Techniques for Forming
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15
21
29
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Healthy Habits
Part 2: SCIENCE
Dispelling Myths
6.
7.
8.
9.
Weight Loss 101: Crunching Numbers
Metabolic Typing
Carbs: The Good, the Bad, and the Glycemic Load Index
Good Fats versus Bad Fats
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63
85
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10. Food Labels: How to Decipher Them
11. Tips and Recipes for Cooking Healthy at Home
12. Eating Out
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103
125
Part 3: SWEAT
Why Exercise?
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Basic Anatomy
Cardio: Everything You Need to Know
Designing a Workout Routine That Works for You
Exercise Index
Keeping It Going
Index
About the Author
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
iv
Contents
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141
147
157
249
251
This book is written as a source of information only. The
information contained in this book should by no means be
considered a substitute for the advice of a qualiﬁed medical
professional, who should always be consulted before beginning
any new diet, exercise, or other health program.
This book has been carefully researched, and all efforts
have been made to ensure the accuracy of its information as of
the date published. All of the procedures, poses, and postures
should be carefully studied and clearly understood before attempting them at home. The author and the publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects, damages,
or losses arising from the use or application of the information
contained herein.
A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
Thanks to my literary agent, Andrea Barzvi, and my agent, Jason Pinyan, for
your support, guidance, and unﬂagging energy. Thanks to my amazing editor, Kathy Huck, and super-publicist, Shelby Meizlik, and everyone else at
HarperCollins for your insight, expertise, and overtime; thanks to Claudia
Herr, for putting it in the right words; thanks to Leeron and Lars; for giving
me love, support, and opportunity; and, of course, thanks to ALL the members of the red team past and present. You are ROCK STARS. This wouldn’t
be possible without all your incredible dedication and hard work.
Introduction
Committing to Change
Why have you picked up this book? I bet it’s because you’re looking for a
change in your life. Well, you’ve come to the right place. No matter who you
are, what you weigh, or how hopeless you might feel about your health, I’m
here to tell you that you do have the power to regain control and change your
life in ways you’ve never imagined possible. Here’s the thing: deciding to
change is easy; acting on it is another story.
If you are looking for the latest fad diet that promises quick and easy results, close this book and put it right back on the shelf. Don’t waste your
money. If you’re looking for an easy way out, you’re not ready for this book.
Those books that promise you miracles are lying; you know the ones I’m talking about—“just eight minutes in the morning to the body of your dreams,”
or, “never count calories again.” In our snap-your-ﬁngers, instant gratiﬁcation
culture, that crap sounds great and sells. But it doesn’t work. Think about it:
If it did, and it were really that easy, we’d all be in perfect shape. America
would not be facing an obesity crisis, and you wouldn’t have picked up this
book looking for yet another solution where all others have failed you.
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Rest assured, I’m not going to lie to you. But by giving you the truth, I
may not be giving you what you want to hear. Changing your life for the better is not quick or easy—like anything that’s worthwhile, positive transformation takes resolve, patience, and hard work. But as anyone who saw me coach
my team to victory on NBC’s The Biggest Loser will know, the results of my program are well worth the effort. The six people I coached on the show lost a collective total of 450 pounds in three months, and the winning loser lost 90
pounds on the show and went on to lose another 32 after he went home.
These kind of results are possible. But you have to work for them.
Imagine, for a moment, your body as a car: if you’re not eating right and
you’re not getting enough exercise, you are gaining weight and moving in reverse; if you’re either eating right or getting exercise, you might be maintaining your weight, idling in neutral; when you put in a little time and effort and
start eating right and getting the exercise you need, you will kick-start yourself
into drive.
Now, step back and take a good look at your life today. And be honest. Are
you happy with your status quo? If not, are you ready to let go of the quick-ﬁx
fantasy that has held you back in the past and really move toward change?
Think about what you want out of life: whether it’s to see your grandchildren
take their ﬁrst steps or to feel good about yourself so that you can be in a
healthy relationship. Face your desires and your fears and embrace them. No
matter what your goals are, you can reach them if you are willing to do the
work, and are committed to becoming your best no matter how long it might
take.
It’s easy to make excuses. I hear them all the time, things like, “I don’t have
the money,” or, “I don’t have the time,” or, “I’m genetically predisposed to
obesity.” Insert whatever totally lame excuse you like—you create your own reality, and if you believe you are destined to fail, chances are you will. However,
if you believe you’re worth it, you can achieve almost anything you want.
It’s not going to be easy to change your life, but don’t worry—it’s not going to be torture either. I make it simple and even fun. My program is designed for real people with real bodies and real lives. People like Ryan on my
team on The Biggest Loser, who came up to me crying on the ﬁrst day of the
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Introduction
show, saying that he wanted to live long enough to have kids and go to their
high school graduation. With my help, he lost 90 pounds in just three
months. I’ve seen it work for my clients, and millions have seen it work for the
people I coached to success on NBC’s The Biggest Loser.
To put you in the driver’s seat, I have devised the “3-S” approach, which is
grounded in the three areas where you need to put in the work to get results:
self, science, and sweat. And this is how the book is divided: The ﬁrst section
will outline some psychological and emotional aspects of losing weight and
starting to live healthy. The second section will give you the tools you need to
know the best foods for your unique body and your unique goals. In the third
section, you will learn basic fundamentals of your muscular system and be
provided with a detailed exercise guide that will enable you to custom design
the ﬁtness program that works best for you.
I know it’s scary to confront yourself, look at your life up close, and really
move toward change, but you don’t have to go it alone. I’m here to guide you
and help you uncover your potential for a better life and a better you. Once
you start to see how strong you really are and what you are capable of, the
sky’s the limit.
I may not always tell you what you want to hear, but I will tell you the
truth. The question you have to ask yourself: Am I ready to hear it? I can talk
until I’m blue in the face, but until you’re ready to pick up what I’m laying
down, you’re wasting your time.
Well, are you ready? Only turn the page if you’re sure the answer is yes.
Introduction
ix
p a r t
SELF
1
It’s All About You
There’s already good news: you’re still reading! Now let’s get to work. Of the
three all-important S’s of my plan, Self is an especially important aspect to start
with, and one that is overlooked by a lot of the popular health and ﬁtness programs. Part of what makes my method unique is that before I talk about calories
or ab crunches, I ground you in some methods for changing your thoughts and
feelings about yourself and your body, so that you have a strong springboard
from which to make the leap into a new and better life.
My own journey to health began when I was an overweight and unhappy
teenager, so I know from ﬁrsthand experience the emotional baggage that being
heavy brings with it. But with a little help and inspiration, I also found my way
out of negativity and bad health, and not only am I now a better person for it, I
also know the steps you can take right now to put you on the right mental and
emotional path to a happier, healthier, more fulﬁlled life. Millions of viewers saw
me push the members of my winning team on The Biggest Loser to confront and
put their issues behind them. Those same millions watched my team shed 450
pounds in 3 months. Now it’s your turn to get real and start losing.
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1
Getting Real:
Planning For Success
our ﬁrst step on the road to total health and your best life is simple: you
can’t achieve success if you are not moving toward something, so before
you do anything else, you have to establish a long-term goal. Sounds easy,
right? Not so fast. It’s easy to say to yourself that you want to look like an action hero or a supermodel. It’s a little bit different to arrive at an ultimate goal
that is at once ambitious and attainable.
What exactly do I mean by attainable? In our day-to-day lives we are
bombarded with images of supposed perfection and beauty all the time; it’s
easy to let the media and the world at large dictate how you feel you should
look and consequently how you feel about how you do look. I’m telling you
right now, that’s got to stop. You know those articles about how to get
J-Lo’s toosh, Gwyneth’s arms, Brad Pitt’s rock-hard abs? Forget them! Even
Cameron Diaz doesn’t look like Cameron Diaz. Those photos we see in
Y
5
magazines are shot after hours of hair and makeup sessions, then airbrushed to perfection.
Unrealistic aspirations to live up to these impossible standards lead nowhere
except to poor self-image, self-loathing, and disorders such as anorexia and
bulimia. Lizzeth from my Biggest Loser season 1 team had suffered all her life.
And I know because I’ve been there, too. When I went from being a chubby kid
to a chubby teenager, I became obsessed with my weight, falling into a cyclical
pattern of self-hatred and low self-esteem fueled by the bogus images of
women in magazines or on TV. I struggled desperately, obsessively, with the
desire to be as skinny as Kate Moss. In my worst years I starved myself and
even went for a liposuction consultation. I would spend hours in front of the
mirror picking myself apart, analyzing my every ﬂaw, beating myself up over
every imperfection; my body became a screen onto which I projected all my
negative feelings.
It wasn’t until I started to accept and love my body—and work with it
rather than against it—that I got real results. I might not look it on TV, but
I’m short and stocky. Period. I even have cellulite on my butt. I am a real ﬂeshand-blood woman with plenty of imperfections. And I happen to look and
feel great—I have learned to be the best me that I can be. I’m healthy and
strong and in the best shape of my life because I accepted the reality of my
body. I will never have the petite, slender frame to which I aspired for so many
years, but now I don’t even want it. Once I let go of that unrealistic notion of
what I thought I should look like and realized that I could be a sexy, voluptuous woman, I was able to look at myself honestly and see what could be
done to make me look and feel my personal best.
Take a good hard look at where your negative feelings about yourself are
coming from. Whatever the source may be, whether it’s media brainwashing,
judgment from family or friends, or maybe a bad relationship, you must recognize it so that you can begin to let it go. Forget perfect. Perfect is boring!
Our bodies are beautiful, no matter how narrow our cultural deﬁnitions
might be. Embrace your perceived imperfections—they make you unique—
and love who you are. It’s the only way to move forward.
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WINNING BY LOSING
So what is a realistic expectation of an ideal you? Below are three basic
body types—identify the one that best applies to your body. It is important to
understand your shape and what you can and can’t expect from it.
1. The apple shape. The apple tends to store fat in his or her upper
body, so if a person is carrying extra weight, it is usually around the
belly. Fat stored in the upper body can lead to cardiac disease, so it is
important for apples to be health conscious. Apples have evolved to
store fat in this way to adapt to long periods of famine.
2. The pear shape. Pears hold the majority of their fat in the lower
body: hips, buttocks, saddlebags. Pears are mostly women. This shape
has evolved because fat stored in these areas aids in fertility and
breast-feeding. This type of fat is not as much of a health risk as abdominal fat, but it is harder to lose.
3. The proportionate shape. Lucky proportionates have fat cells distributed equally throughout their entire body. When they gain
weight, they gain it everywhere. When they lose weight, it comes off
evenly.
As you can see, your basic shape is just a result of your particular pattern
of fat deposits. With proper diet and exercise—the kind that I lay out and personalize for you in the “Science” and “Sweat” sections of this book—you can
do a lot to alter your shape, but it’s important that you get a grip on the fact
that you can only win against genetics up to a certain point. Once you understand this, you can let go of unreachable goals and replace them with real
ones.
After identifying your shape as one of the three basic types, you need to establish a realistic weight for your speciﬁc build. You’ve probably heard of the
body mass index. The BMI is used to determine the amount of fat you have on
your body according to your weight and height. Here’s why you’re not going
Getting Real: Planning For Success
7
to use it: it fails to distinguish between fat and muscle, so the BMI will ultimately give you an incomplete sense of your ideal weight. The medical industry has most recently set its weight guidelines according to the waist-to-hip
ratio method, which is a much more accurate way of arriving at an ideal goal
weight. Follow these steps to ﬁnd yours.
1. Get a tape measure and measure your waist right at the
belly button line.
2. Standing with feet hip-width apart, measure your hips at
their widest point.
3. Now simply divide your waist measurement by your hip
measurement. This is your waist-to-hip ratio.
The ideal waist-to-hip ratios are 0.80 for women and 0.95 for men. No
matter what number you’ve arrived at, do not be discouraged. Beating yourself
up is never a solution. As you lose weight and get ﬁt, you will reduce and redistribute your fat, which will give you a lower waist-to-hip ratio.
I have outlined some reasonable target weight standards if you prefer to
keep track of pounds. Keep in mind that depending on your frame and
whether you are big or small boned, there is a leeway in either direction of
about 10 pounds.
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WINNING BY LOSING
HEIGHT
4'10"
4'11"
5'
5'1"
5'2"
5'3"
5'4"
5'5"
5'6"
5'7"
5'8"
5'9"
5'10"
5'11"
6'
6'1"
6'2"
6'3"
6'4"
WOMEN
MEN
(weight in pounds) (weight in pounds)
105
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
145
150
155
160
165
170
175
180
185
190
195
130
135
140
145
150
155
160
165
170
175
180
185
190
195
200
205
210
215
220
GETTING IT IN WRITING
Now that you have an honest idea of what your shape can look like and what
your goal weight should be, visualize it. Imagine in great detail how you will
look and feel, the many ways in which your life will be different and, yes, better. This is where I suggest keeping a notebook. More than just a journal or a
food log—that comes later—this is a place for you to write everything and see
it in front of you so you are inspired to work through your issues and toward
your goals, rather than avoid your problems and stay in neutral. Kelly from
Getting Real: Planning For Success
9
The Biggest Loser talked with me about wanting to go on a date when she went
back home and ﬁnding the conﬁdence to ask her boss for a raise. Since she’s
been home, she’s done both those things and more.
Putting it all on paper will also help you think more fully about your
goals: Do you want to be healthy, conﬁdent, physically and mentally strong?
What clothes do you want to wear that you can’t now? See and feel yourself in
your ultimate body, living a new life, playing with your kids, going on a date,
getting compliments from friends or coworkers. Whatever the ultimate goals
are for you, both physically and emotionally, write them down now in as
much detail as you can, and refer back to them often. They will help you stay
motivated on your journey.
As you are envisioning the changes in your future, you must begin to let
go of your past. Forget about what you looked like in high school, whether it
was good or bad. Forget about fat periods or skinny periods in your life. The
past does not deﬁne you; your present does. Having a vision of the future affects your behavior now. The key here is to let your daily actions be governed
by your game plan for a new you and to keep that game plan in the forefront
of your mind by writing about it and letting it become real. There’s no deadline.
Just commit to the process and take it day by day.
BREAKING DOWN YOUR GOALS
Attaining that long-term goal may seem overwhelming or too distant. There
is a simple solution: now that you have a vision of where you ultimately want
to be, you can start to set smaller short-term goals in order to stay on track.
Plot your course of action by writing down the immediate-term things you
need to do in order to attain your long-term goal. Be honest with yourself
about the obstacles that will stand in your way, and you can begin to methodically eliminate them one by one. No immediate goal is too small as long as it
helps you move toward your long-term vision.
As you are writing these short-term goals down, start thinking of little
incentives to keep you going. For example, I don’t love to work out. I know
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WINNING BY LOSING
there are people out there who do. I’m just not one of them. Having said
that, working out makes me feel great and inspires me in every area of my
life, and I know myself well enough to realize that if I have a little external
motivation, I can push myself through it. It is important that the incentives
you come up with to motivate and reward yourself are not food related.
Ryan from the show started saving his doughnut money to buy songs on
iTunes at the end of every week. Start learning how to pamper and treat
yourself in healthy life- and self-afﬁrming ways that have nothing to do with
food.
Here’s an example of how you can break a long-term goal down into less
overwhelming minigoals and the kinds of incentives you can create to help
you stay the course.
Getting Real: Planning For Success
11
GOAL
REWARD
ULTIMATE GOAL
ULTIMATE REWARD
I want to lose 50 pounds.
I will take a vacation to Hawaii
where I can show off my new
beach body and relax.
I want to feel healthy and strong.
I want to fall in love.
I want to wear a size 8 again.
MONTHLY GOALS
MONTHLY REWARDS
I will lose 8 pounds this month.
I will buy myself the bathing suit
that will ﬁt me when I reach my
ultimate goal.
I will learn ﬁve healthy new recipes.
I will lose an inch around my waist.
I will be able to run a half-mile
without stopping.
I will buy myself a Crock-Pot for
cooking healthy at home.
I will treat myself to a night on the
town and go dancing.
I will treat myself to a mini-iPod so I
can listen to music at the gym.
WEEKLY GOALS
WEEKLY REWARDS
I will work out three times this
week.
I will get a manicure and pedicure.
I will lose 2 pounds this week.
I will not eat fast food this week.
I will take the money I’ve saved by
not eating junk food and buy
music for my workouts on iTunes.
DAILY GOALS
DAILY REWARDS
I will rearrange my schedule to
make time for the gym.
I will make time for myself and take
a bubble bath.
I will talk to my spouse/partner
about eating healthier at home.
I will veg out in front of the TV and
watch my favorite show
uninterrupted.
I will prepare healthy snacks to take
to work.
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I will treat myself to a movie on
Sunday afternoon.
WINNING BY LOSING
I will splurge a little and order in for
dinner so that I don’t have to cook.
These are only examples. Use the following grid to write down your longterm goals, then break them down into manageable, rewardable steps.
GOAL
REWARD
LONG-TERM GOALS
LONG-TERM REWARDS
MONTHLY GOALS
MONTHLY REWARDS
WEEKLY GOALS
WEEKLY REWARDS
DAILY GOALS
DAILY REWARDS
Getting Real: Planning For Success
13
Meditate on your daily goals every morning to give purpose to your day.
And every night before you go to sleep, think about your vision of the ultimate you—strong, healthy, and happy. Reafﬁrm your belief in yourself and
your goals, and you will ﬁnd yourself taking the active steps needed to achieve
them.
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WINNING BY LOSING
2
Recognizing
Emotional Triggers
ne of the most prevalent and insidious causes of weight gain is emotional
eating. When I was my heaviest as a ﬁfteen-year-old about 50 pounds
heavier and 2 inches shorter than I am now, my parents were in the middle of one hell of an ugly divorce. I told everyone that I was ﬁne, that I didn’t
care, but every day after school I would go up to the roof of our house and eat
myself into a coma. I was masking my negative feelings and turning them inward against myself without even realizing it. It wasn’t until someone who really loved me and reached out to me that I woke up, got wise, and set out on
the road to healing. This person helped me ﬁnd ways to look at my life and
address my true feelings without anesthetizing myself with food.
O
15
INTERNAL CHECK-IN
We have all used food as a drug to help ourselves cope with stress at one time
or another. You know what I’m talking about: cutbacks at work, a ﬁght with
your signiﬁcant other, not having a signiﬁcant other, problems with your
kids—hundreds of situations can cause you to run to the fridge when you
don’t need to. I could get into the science of it all and explain how certain
foods have the same chemical reactions in your brain as pleasure-inducing
substances like alcohol or nicotine, but what’s the point? If you are an emotional eater, you’ve probably ﬁgured that out. You’ve probably also ﬁgured
out that unhealthy overeating leads not only to weight gain but can also lead
to a destructive downward spiral of anxiety and self-loathing that is very hard
to break on your own. That’s why I’m here to help you.
There will never be a totally stress-free time in your life. The key is to identify the things that are making you feel pressured, sad, angry, or anxious.
Once you have identiﬁed your emotional triggers, you can break the cycle and
start getting back in control of when, why, and how you eat.
The best way to identify your own emotional triggers is through internal examination. Facing your issues by bringing them out of your subconscious and
into your conscious reality is the most empowering thing you can do. This is another way to use your journal as a tool: write down not just what you eat every
day but the emotional circumstances surrounding every meal and snack. From
now on, every time you go to eat something, I want you to stop and ask yourself
the following questions so that you can pinpoint the psychological and emotional conditions that are triggering your unhealthy eating habits. Write the answers down so you can’t push them to the back of your mind when you’re done.
1. ARE YOU HUNGRY?
Are there any physiological conditions you are experiencing
that are signaling to you that you are hungry? Is your stomach
growling? Do you feel weak or tired? Has it been longer than 3
or 4 hours since you last ate? It is not hard to determine
whether you are genuinely physically hungry or whether you are
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WINNING BY LOSING
eating for a different reason. If you’ve answered these questions and determined that you are hungry, then eat. If not, it’s
time for the next question.
2. ARE YOU DEPRESSED OR ANXIOUS?
Did you just get into a ﬁght with someone? Are you anxious
about a work-related deadline? Whatever it might be, write
down in detail what you feel and why you think you are feeling
it. If you don’t get in touch with your emotions and their cause,
you will continue to stumble along in life with an absolute
guarantee of failure.
3. CAN YOU FIND A WAY TO ADDRESS WHATEVER EMOTIONS YOU MAY HAVE UNCOVERED IN AN APPROPRIATE
WAY RATHER THAN SUPPRESSING THOSE EMOTIONS?
For example, if you had an argument with your mother, can
you call her to talk it through? If you are feeling anxious about
a work- or school-related deadline, can you get to work on the
project to make yourself feel more on top of it? If you can rectify the issue in the moment by acting on it directly and positively, seize the opportunity to do so. Facing these kinds of
problems is difﬁcult, and it’s always easier to try and numb
yourself with food. But once you begin to look behind your behavior and analyze your feelings, it becomes easier and easier.
Of course, it is possible and even likely that you will not have
the means to resolve an issue or a situation at the exact moment that it is triggering you to behave self-destructively. If this
is the case, go to the next question.
4. HOW CAN YOU TURN THIS PROBLEM INTO AN OPPORTUNITY?
Maybe you’ve recently been left by a long-term spouse or signiﬁcant other. Maybe you’ve been ﬁred from a job. Instead of
Recognizing Emotional Triggers
17
seeing these kinds of scenarios as permanent blows to your
self-esteem, try looking at them in a different light. Admit that
you are in a lot of pain right now, but perhaps the relationship
had been over for a while and there is someone better out there
for you. Or tell yourself that losing your job does not change
the fact that you are a smart, capable person who will have
plenty of other offers in the future. Try and stay positive. Accept that sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees,
and you will be able to stay strong through the low moments.
Try to ﬁnd meaning and instruction in the pain. You will grow
from it in amazing ways.
LEARNING HEALTHY BEHAVIOR PATTERNS
At the end of the day, sometimes life just sucks in ways that cannot be reasoned with or rationalized. The key is to learn how to take care of and pamper
yourself in ways that are life-afﬁrming, not self-destructive. You have to learn
to deal with sabotaging emotions by establishing some healthy patterns of behavior and investing in your physical and emotional well-being.
Find some activities that comfort and interest you so that you will have
the weapons to combat your sabotaging emotions without resorting to food.
Think about what, apart from eating, soothes you. What makes you feel beautiful or sexy and desirable? If you steer yourself toward these positive feelings
of self-worth, you will pick activities and behaviors that inherently contradict
self-loathing and self-destructiveness. Take a bubble bath and listen to music
you love. Go for a longer-than-usual walk with your dog. Go out dancing with
friends. Get a massage or a manicure-pedicure. Learn to reward and nurture
yourself with activities that make you feel good about being alive, and you will
break the cycle of self-destruction caused by emotional overeating.
If you are a constant emotional grazer due to long-term boredom, loneliness, or depression, get a healthy hobby. Choose activities that soothe and
comfort you—hobbies that offer you a means of self-expression. Do you like
painting? Have you always wanted to try writing a mystery novel? Do you en-
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WINNING BY LOSING
joy knitting? Is there a project you’ve been thinking about such as creating a
family tree or ﬁxing up an old car? You get the idea. Find some activities
within your current situation that will give you a constructive outlet for your
emotions.
We’ve now discussed some different methods for identifying, acknowledging, and bringing to the surface the emotions that have sabotaged you in
the past. We’ve also discussed some methods for managing your feelings in a
productive manner so that you can begin to change your outlook on life.
We’ve even covered activities and hobbies that can help you change your selfdestructive behavior patterns into healthy, life-afﬁrming ones. I’m not saying
it’s going to be easy, but you can use this insight and self-knowledge to make
real change for yourself. Once you force yourself to take some initial proactive
steps, you will be amazed at how simple it can be to break out of the negativity and self-doubt that has you locked into believing that nothing will ever
change for the better. You can reverse the cycle. The more you practice these
simple techniques, the better you will feel.
Recognizing Emotional Triggers
19
3
Reconfiguring Your
World and Developing
Support Systems
e’ve all heard the phrase, “No man’s an island.” Well, no dieter is either.
Losing weight is not easy, and we can use all the help we can get. Although personal transformation starts from within, our lives are deeply
bound with friends, loved ones, and coworkers. Now that you have done some
of the personal internal work required to get moving on the road to total ﬁtness, it’s time to widen the lens of investigation to include the people in your
life who may be supporting—or sabotaging—you.
The desire to be accepted and loved is a primal human need that often
drives us to conform to the behavior and attitudes of those around us. As a result, the people around you have a profound effect on the way you see the
world and your place in it, as well as choices that you make every day. It is ab-
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21
solutely essential to recognize that you are not entirely alone as you set out to
lose weight and get healthy.
Take me, for example. In high school I was part of the “wrong” crowd. I
hung out with kids who were experimenting with drugs, getting into trouble,
and failing out of school. Even though I knew a lot of what they did was not
good for me, I copied their behaviors because I wanted them to accept me. For
months at a time, my days consisted of skipping school, getting stoned, and
gorging myself on the worst kinds of junk food. To this day I have trouble letting go of the troubled teen persona.
Fortunately, I found a situation to counterbalance and eventually outweigh the negative inﬂuences I had fallen under. At the suggestion of my
mother, who was desperate to get me back on track and ﬁnd a positive inﬂuence for me, I joined a karate class in an attempt to ﬁnd an outlet for some of
my anger and negative emotions. It was the teachers and students there who
showed me the value of afﬁrming inﬂuences and positive role models. Suddenly surrounded by such a nurturing and life-afﬁrming group of people, I began to adopt their behaviors instead of those of my burned-out school friends.
I began to take vitamins instead of drugs, I began to eat healthy and exercise
instead of lazing around and eating junk food, and I began to study and do
homework instead of skipping classes. You see, surrounding yourself with the
wrong crowd can bring you down—way down. Surrounding yourself with the
right crowd can inspire you to discover and nurture the best in yourself.
TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS
Are the people in your life helping or hindering you? Let’s take a good look at
your current signiﬁcant relationships and how they affect your life both on a
day-to-day level and on a larger scale. Make a list in your journal of the names
of all the inﬂuential people in your life. This could be family members, a signiﬁcant other, friends, coworkers, anyone at all who is important to you. Here
are some questions to help you identify problem people in your life and some
ideas for how to deal with them so that nothing is forcing you off track.
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WINNING BY LOSING
1. DOES THIS PERSON PUSH FOOD ON YOU?
You know that friend who’s always pushing you to have the fried noodles, or
that aunt who always bakes your favorite peanut butter cookies, or your
mother-in-law who makes you pasta with cream sauce every time you go to
her house for dinner. Sure, it seems innocent enough. These people may not
realize what they are doing, or they may think they are doing it out of love and
acceptance of the way you are. The bottom line though is that their way of
loving you is through food.
Solution
Lisa from my team on The Biggest Loser had this problem. Her mother was always pushing food on her, and I told her what I’m telling you: Acknowledge
these behaviors. Recognize the problems and sit the person in question down
and let them know that you are trying to lose weight and be healthy. Tell them
how they can help and support you. Chances are they’ll want to. Lisa’s mother
ended up learning new recipes so that she could cook for her daughter without sabotaging Lisa’s health and happiness.
This is not always easy. Sometimes people will hear you and be able to
change their behavior, but often their behavior has more to do with their own
need for approval than with your need for support. No matter what their response, you need to be ﬁrm and hold your ground. At the end of the day, your
health is your responsibility.
2. IS THIS PERSON AFRAID THAT IF YOU CHANGE
YOU WILL OUTGROW OR LEAVE HIM?
I have so many clients whose signiﬁcant others have been initially threatened
when they take steps to get their health back on track. One client’s girlfriend
would always create a scene just when he was about to leave for the gym, so he
was always late for his session. Another client’s wife would refuse to buy
healthy food at the grocery store or would constantly eat junk food in front of
him. Is there anyone in your life who displays this kind of behavior? Is there
Reconfiguring Your World and Developing Support Systems
23
someone who’s always trying to persuade you to skip a workout or who always suggests pizza when it’s his turn to cook? Is someone subtly sabotaging
you on your journey to total health?
Solution
If someone on your list is sabotaging you in this way, ask yourself why. It
doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you. It could be that he is feeling insecure
and threatened at the prospect of your transformation for the better. He
might be worried that if you lose weight and get healthy, you will abandon
him for someone “better.” More likely than not, this person has no idea that
he is undermining your resolve. Sit down with him, assure him that you love
him, then tell him what’s going on. Give examples of behavior he has exhibited that has sabotaged you in the past. Keep reassuring this person that you
value him and he plays an important role in your life.
People commonly react defensively at ﬁrst, but give them time. Continue
to point out examples as they arise of the things they do that you feel impede
your progress. If necessary, create boundaries within the relationship and
stick to them. Do not let anything or anyone get in the way of your eating
healthy, getting to the gym, or accomplishing what you want for the sake of
your health and happiness.
It’s easy to want to avoid this kind of confrontation, for fear of judgment,
rejection, or abandonment, but you have to be brave and remember what’s at
stake. If you have tried everything and this person fails to respond, you might
want to reconsider the relationship. Maybe this is someone who doesn’t want
what’s best for you.
3. IS THIS PERSON OPENLY JEALOUS WHEN
GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO YOU?
I had a friend in high school who was always in competition with me. She
would do things like tell me that I was looking too thin, then go buy me junk
food, just because she wanted me to gain weight so that she would be skin-
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WINNING BY LOSING
nier. Do you have anyone in your life who always needs to be one step ahead of
you and who would like to see you fail on your mission?
Solution
Take a good look at this relationship and assess whether this is someone you
need in your life. Maybe this is an unhealthy relationship that does nothing
for you but hold you back. If you want to and can get out of this relationship, do it. If it’s a relationship you can’t get out of, such as one with a
coworker or family member, limit your contact with this person and set ﬁrm
boundaries. Do not enter into conversations with her about your goals or
your progress, whether good or bad. Do not give her ammunition to use
against you.
Conversely, you may feel that despite her jealousy, the relationship is too
important to you to let it go. If this is the case, try communicating the problem to this person, telling her how the dynamics of the relationship must
change. Again, be speciﬁc. It’s harder for people to deny their behavior when
you can point out examples. No matter what, don’t let her dissuade you from
your path—you and you alone are in control of your life and your health.
BUILDING A NETWORK
Now that I’ve given you the troubleshooting tools you need to eliminate the
obstacles that might lurk in your relationships, you can start to reconﬁgure
your life around people who support you in your decision to get healthy.
It is important that the trusted people in your life know about your
weight-loss regimen and your plan to get healthy. Sit down with them and
clearly explain your goals and aspirations. Explain the weight-loss regimen
you are following. Tell them what types of foods you are eating and what your
workout schedule consists of. Make sure they are on the same page as you and
that they understand your changing needs so that they can give you support.
But you need to give more than just an understanding of your diet and exercise schedule. It is important that you communicate the kinds of emotional
Reconfiguring Your World and Developing Support Systems
25
support you need as well. I had a client whose wife would try to motivate him
by nagging him constantly about his weight and poor diet. Instead of motivating him, his wife’s comments only made him feel hopeless, which drove
him to eat more. I asked this client how he wanted his wife to support him in
his weight loss. He thought about it and said that he just wanted her to listen
when he was frustrated with the diet or tired of the gym, and encourage him
to stick with it without deprecating him. He wanted a partner in healthy living, not a nag.
The three of us sat down one day, and he explained all of this to her. My
client and I then described how his wife could best be there for him to offer
strength and encouragement. Sure, she was a little hurt at ﬁrst, but it didn’t
take long for her to understand that her methods had been unhelpful and
that she was totally capable of giving him the support he needed. By communicating to his wife in plain terms, this client eliminated a huge roadblock.
The couple ended up happier and closer thanks to this honest expression of
feelings. (He lost the weight—and so did his wife!)
We all have different triggers for positive and negative emotions when it
comes to the people and relationships in our lives. If you patiently and consistently communicate what others can do to support you, you will build a
network of strength that you can lean on when you feel discouraged or in
need of reassurance.
Within this network there are three key relationships that you should foster or establish that will be of crucial assistance to you as you start to change
your lifestyle.
1. A PARTNER IN CRIME
Is there someone in your life with whom you can go through the process of
changing your life and getting healthy? Do you have a friend, coworker, or relative whose company you enjoy and whose goals are similar to yours? Misery
loves company, but so does strength and resolve. Matt from the show roped
his roommate into his ﬁtness plan, and they helped each other eat right, work
out, and stay motivated. The great thing about having a buddy is that you will
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be accountable to someone, whether it’s someone waiting for you at the gym
so that you can’t ﬂake or someone who stops you from reaching for a bag of
chips in a moment of weakness. Having the right person or group to share
your frustrations and progress with can be great motivation.
2. A ROLE MODEL
Another great motivation is having someone to look up to—someone who
you trust to educate you about health and ﬁtness, give you advice and answers
when you’re feeling lost, and stimulate your sense of possibility and potential.
My role model was a fellow student at the karate studio. Four years older
than me, he was smart, funny, charismatic, and one hell of a ﬁghter. He was
testing for his black belt while I was wearing the blue. I took to him immediately, and he became my mentor, the big brother I’d always wanted but never
had. I admired and looked up to him, aspiring to follow his example.
You could choose a personal trainer, a sponsor in a support group, or a
trusted friend who has been there, done that—basically anyone who you respect, and who has the knowledge you need and the ability to challenge you
and keep you moving toward your goal.
3. A FAN
The last important ﬁgure in this network (and somebody everyone needs, dieter or not) is a fan. Do you have someone in your life who just wants to see
you happy and successful? Someone who encourages you and cheers you on
no matter what? Look for someone who is always supportive of you without
being asked. Maybe it’s one of your kids, or your mom, or a best friend. Whoever it is, this person should nourish your heart. Love and kindness can bring
you strength and courage when you need it most.
Now you understand that you do not have to go it alone. I’ve given you the basic tools and tactics you can use to change the relationships in your life so
that they are geared toward maximizing your success. If you don’t have
Reconfiguring Your World and Developing Support Systems
27
enough people in your life who inﬂuence you positively or lend you support,
seek them out. Join a group, hire a trainer, ask a friend from the ofﬁce to be a
diet buddy, or approach someone at the gym about training together. If you
surround yourself with people who support you and want to see you succeed,
chances are you will.
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4
The Right Attitude
ow that I’ve shown you the importance of support from others, it’s back
to you (what I lay down here always comes back to you). You can have all
the external support in the world, but if you can’t shake the negative attitude you have toward yourself and your body, you will never have long-term
success in any weight-loss or ﬁtness program.
So you’re wondering, what is the right attitude and how can it help you
lose weight? Having the right attitude is so important because thought is
behavior—the power of mind is total, and the way you think of yourself manifests as your reality. We all know how easily negative thoughts about ourselves can lead to poor self-image, lack of conﬁdence, hopelessness, and
depression. You’ve heard about self-fulﬁlling prophecy, right? Well, if you tell
yourself that you’ll always be fat or that you’ll never ﬁnd happiness, chances
are you will always be fat and you won’t ever be happy. But imagine what
could be possible if you harnessed your mental power with positive thoughts.
N
29
CHANGING YOUR SELF-TALK
A key element of changing your attitude is changing your self-talk—your internal monologue, the chattering conversation you have with yourself constantly all day long, whether you are aware of it or not. It’s the voice in your
head that says, “I’m genetically fat. Why not have another slice of cake?” or, “I
can’t exercise because I’m fat and lazy,” or, “I’m worthless because I have no
self-control and will always be this way.” Blah blah blah. You know what I’m
talking about—it’s this kind of useless negativity that is holding you back,
keeping you from being the best you that you can be. Now’s the time to turn
it around once and for all.
Imagine what would happen if you changed the dialogue so that it
sounded more like this: “I can lose weight and be healthy. I will exercise to the
best of my ability, and I will get stronger and better at it every time I do it. I am
going to eat well today, and I will feel good about myself as a result.” Your selftalk can make the difference between self-assurance and self-doubt, happiness and despair, success and failure. I can promise you that if you start
making your self-talk more positive and afﬁrming, and less defeatist and selfdeprecating, your whole life will change for the better.
There is more to this idea than the way you talk to yourself. I also want
you to think about the way you talk about yourself to others. We often adopt
negative ways of identifying ourselves to others as a self-defense mechanism, a
way of preempting ridicule and avoiding responsibility for our situation.
Ryan Benson, who went on to win the individual weight-loss prize on The
Biggest Loser, was a perfect example of this. When I ﬁrst met him on the set, he
was always referring to himself as “the funny fat guy.” I put a stop to that crap
immediately. I asked him why he felt the need to identify himself this way and
how he felt it served him in his life. At ﬁrst he tried to tell me that it was harmless, “just a bit of self-deprecating humor.” In fact, these little thrown-off
comments were damaging, and over time they had eroded all his selfconﬁdence. Once he understood this, he became “the sexy funny guy who can
do a handstand in my yoga class,” and he ultimately lost 122 pounds. See
what a difference the right attitude can make?
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WINNING BY LOSING
Now let’s take a close look at the things you say to yourself on a daily
basis, identify where you are being pointlessly, uselessly negative, and
pinpoint where you can make improvements to achieve your goals. Don’t
get me wrong : I’m not about to tell you what you should think of yourself. I am simply going to teach you how to recognize and combat your
negativity so that you can start to accentuate all the positive things. You
are a diamond in the rough—we just need to clean off all the crud that
has been hiding the gem. It’s time to acknowledge your internalized negative opinions, your preconceived notions based on past failures, and let
them go.
I have a few questions to ask you so that we can start exorcising these
demons and move forward. I know, I know, more questions . . . but I need you
to really get to know yourself, which can only happen if you do some serious
investigation into what’s going on in your head. Write your answers in your
journal so that you can look back for a reality and motivation check down the
road. You may well need a reminder in your own handwriting of why your
goals matter and why you deserve to achieve them.
1. DO YOU HAVE A NEGATIVE SELF-IMAGE?
Do you constantly say things like, “I’m fat and ugly,” or do
you pick yourself apart and beat yourself up when you look in
the mirror?
2. DO YOU LACK SELF-CONFIDENCE?
Do you doubt your ability to achieve your goals, weight related or otherwise? Do you dwell on your perceived limits or
fears? Do you doubt your ability to accomplish the things you
want to accomplish?
3. DO YOU FEEL POWERLESS?
Do you feel like you have no control over your life, or do you
make excuses like, “I’m genetically predisposed to being overweight”?
The Right Attitude
31
4. DO YOU LABEL YOURSELF IN NEGATIVE OR SELFDEPRECATING WAYS?
Do you think and talk about your failure to lose weight as a
foregone conclusion? Do you refer to yourself mockingly or
otherwise as the happy/funny fat person? Is your e-mail address [email protected]?
Now, look back at your responses. How would you describe the tone of
your answers? Are they afﬁrming and constructive, or are they downbeat and
destructive? It can be hard to let go of these negative patterns of thought and
behavior; often they are the result of years of self-loathing and internalizing
the negative opinions and judgments of others. I don’t care what kids called
you in high school or even what someone mean may have said to you last
week—that is no longer relevant. Release the past, focus on the present, and
open yourself up to the possibilities that await you in the future.
This last question will help you understand why you have been propagating these destructive thoughts and behaviors so that we can cut them out at
the root.
5. HOW IS THIS NEGATIVITY SERVING YOU?
Is what you say about yourself really the truth? What is its
purpose? Is it a defense mechanism, and if so, against what?
Are you just making complicated excuses? How does this kind
of negativity help you achieve your goals?
All right, here’s the last step: I want you to go back and reanswer these ﬁve
questions—but this time positively. When I was in my early teens and just
starting out in martial arts, I would beat myself up constantly over my perceived inadequacies. One day my instructor sat me down and made me write
out my negative self-talk, then reverse it, like this:
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WINNING BY LOSING
NEGATIVE SELF-TALK STATEMENT
I am a terrible ﬁghter. I have no coordination. I am fat and awkward, which
makes me slow. I’m genetically not ﬂexible. I will never be able to master these
ﬁghting techniques.
Reversal
I am a courageous ﬁghter who is all heart. I am sturdy and steady, which gives
me power and control. I have the drive and discipline to master any art form I
desire, no matter how long it takes. I am a force to be reckoned with.
As soon as I was able to let go of the groundless negativity I had been holding
on to with such attachment, my ﬁghting improved in leaps and bounds. It is
critical to your success that you acknowledge the harmful things you say to
and about yourself, comprehend your reasons for saying them, and transform
those negative thought patterns into constructive, helpful ones through reversal.
Positive self-talk is very simple—it’s just talking to yourself in a conﬁdent,
reassuring, friendly way. By reanswering my ﬁve questions in a positive way,
you are effectively neutralizing your negativity and getting real so that you
can move forward.
(BREAKING OUT OF)
THE ALL-OR-NOTHING MENTALITY
Learning the art of positive self-talk will be instrumental to adopting the
right attitude, but there is a little more to it—the right attitude also involves
developing and maintaining a vigorously pragmatic frame of mind. One of
the biggest hurdles you must overcome as you set out to change your life for
the better is the all-or-nothing mentality.
Do you do things all the way or not at all? Do you start diets with superhuman resolve, saying things like, “I will give this diet 110 percent, I will go to
the gym six times a week, and I will never eat pizza again,” only to fall off the
The Right Attitude
33
wagon and give up all hope? My team member Dave was one of these. He was
either starving himself or bingeing and then feeling terrible about himself.
Often we get to a place with our bodies where we have let things go to such an
extent that we become disgusted and feel the need for immediate and drastic
change to rectify the situation.
This kind of approach to anything, especially to your health and your
body, can be very appealing, but I’m telling you right now it’s the most dangerous way to set out. Human beings are imperfect. If you start out swearing
to yourself that you will go to the gym six times a week and never eat pizza
again, when you do skip a workout or give in to temptation—something we all
do—you’re likely to throw in the towel and start thinking of yourself as a
worthless failure, which will get you exactly nowhere.
It is important to start learning how to make decisions about your health
and your diet that you can realistically stick to and live with forever. Remember, you are not just going on a diet, you’re establishing a pattern of health
that will increase the quality of your life. I ended up challenging Dave to ﬁnd
a middle ground and showed him how to incorporate fun and the occasional
surrender to temptation. He went away knowing that a healthy lifestyle does
not have to be limited in any way, if you can practice a little pragmatic moderation. The right kind of thinking will help you not only attain your goals but
will help keep you where you want to be once you get there.
Part of abandoning the all-or-nothing mentality is allowing yourself
room for setbacks. We are bound to have lapses on the road to health and
wellness, but it is critical that we learn how to handle small failures positively
so that we can minimize their long-term destructive effects. One setback is
one setback—it is not the end of the world, nor is it the end of your journey toward a better you.
Another critical step in renouncing the destructive all-or-nothing mindset
is knowing how to walk a line between self-denial and self-indulgence. It is the
middle ground between the two that offers the best foundation on which to
build your new life. Denying yourself little pleasures such as an occasional
glass of wine or a chocolate trufﬂe will only make you feel deprived, frustrated, and ultimately hopeless about maintaining your discipline. A tempta-
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WINNING BY LOSING
tion is a lot less powerful if it isn’t totally forbidden. This is where moderation
comes in.
I will never be able to give up all the edible goodies life has to offer, but by
practicing moderation I’ve found a solution to my weaknesses that I can live
with every day. There is room for all foods, no matter how “bad” they are; it’s
just a matter of being conscious and careful of how often and how much. It’s
ﬁne to have a piece of cake now and then, just not every day, and not the
whole cake.
I can already hear what you’re thinking: “If I eat a little bit, I’ll want it all.”
My clients tell me the same thing all the time. We all have at least one food
that we truly can’t eat a little of without going overboard. Mine is ice cream. If
you know that a particular food has a trigger effect on you, try choosing an alternative. I will often have a couple bites of cheesecake instead of ice cream so
that my sweet tooth is satisﬁed, but I don’t end up with an empty ice-cream
carton in my hand. If your weakness is potato chips, try having some airpopped popcorn as a snack instead. Trust me—in time you can adapt so that
small amounts of “bad” foods will not set you off on a binge.
The most important thing to remember from this chapter is not to waste
time beating yourself up. There are no mistakes, just learning experiences.
Weight loss is a process, and every process takes time. Sometimes it will be
easy; sometimes it will be hard. You will encounter small failures—everyone
does. Just remember, every pound you gain can be lost, and every slip-up you
make is not a disaster. If you miss a workout, all is not forsaken! Get to the
gym the next day and continue to focus on your short-term goals. Just because you made bad choices today doesn’t mean you can’t start over tomorrow. I know it sounds trite, but every day truly is a new beginning.
I’ve given you a lot to think about in this chapter. I know it can be scary to
go out on a limb and believe in yourself. But faith in yourself and your worth
is what will catalyze change in your life and keep you striving for the best. You
might not be able to implement all of these attitude changes overnight, but be
persistent. You will be surprised at how quickly you can change your mind
and learn to coach yourself constantly toward ultimate success.
The Right Attitude
35
5
Behavior Modification:
Techniques for Forming
Healthy Habits
e’ve been over the psychological and emotional work you have to do in order to get on the right track. Now it’s important that you know how to
stay there. All it takes is a few simple changes to your everyday behavior
and you can translate the internal work you’re doing into lasting external results.
Lots of the so-called experts talk about willpower as being the key to losing weight. Forget it! Willpower doesn’t exist—there’s no such thing—at least
not as a permanent unwavering personality trait. Sure we all have ﬂeeting moments of bravado when we pass on the birthday cake and marvel at our own
virtue. But we also know this particular virtue tends to come and go. What
you’re going to learn now are some basic techniques you can use to change
your habits and program yourself against failure.
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37
This is not going to be free: you’re going to have to put in a little time and
do the work—that’s the deal. I’m telling you this right now because I don’t
want to hear at any point that you don’t have the time. If that’s your excuse, I
want you to go back and read the Introduction where I talk about committing to change, then get back to me. I’ll wait right here for you until you’re
ready, and I’ll be here for however long it takes.
Ready? Okay, good. Let’s move on.
Everything in the previous chapters has been leading up to this point. Like I
said, it’s not going to be easy at ﬁrst, but as soon as you start seeing results, no
matter how minor at ﬁrst, you’ll be amazed at the cycle of positivity and success you’ve created.
Let’s gain some insight into the nitty-gritty speciﬁcs of your current selfdefeating behaviors that have been your downfall in the past. By doing this,
we can substitute healthy, afﬁrming behaviors instead. Listed below are several of the most common causes of overeating. I want you to write down in
your journal however many of the excuses apply or have applied to you. That
way we can isolate your speciﬁc problems and work on ﬁnding solutions for
all of them.
1. EMOTION
Do you overeat as a coping mechanism, to numb suffering,
allay fears, combat loneliness, and so on?
2. REWARD
Do you eat to make you feel good about yourself whenever
you’ve done a good job on something?
3. SEEKING ACCEPTANCE
Do you overeat because you’re seeking social acceptance?
Do you eat fattening foods at parties in order not to offend the
host? If you’re out with friends, do you feel the need to have a
drink just to ﬁt in?
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4. EXTERNAL CUES
Are you stimulated to eat by things like fast-food commercials as opposed to hunger signals from your own body?
5. MINDLESSNESS
Do you go through the day grazing constantly on anything
that’s around and lose track of how many calories you’re consuming?
6. BOREDOM
Do you eat because you can’t ﬁnd anything else to do?
7. ARE THERE REASONS I MAY NOT HAVE LISTED THAT
APPLY TO YOUR PARTICULAR PROBLEMS WITH OVEREATING? IF THERE ARE, WRITE THEM DOWN.
Whatever your downfalls might have been in the past, there is a way to
deal with them in the present. Now that you know the things that tend to sabotage you, read this chapter carefully to ﬁnd the solutions that apply to your
speciﬁc set of circumstances.
AVOIDING DANGEROUS SITUATIONS
Eliminate as many obstacles as you can before they get in your way. Think of
yourself as being on a mission—the key to success is having a game plan for
every situation that might throw you off course. Many of our problems have
simple solutions we can’t see because we’re wrapped up in them. Ryan is a
great example. His daily drive to work took him past a doughnut shop, and
sure enough he would ﬁnd himself stopping there almost every day. When we
got to work on the show, I ordered him to take another route to work so that
he wasn’t putting temptation in his path. The result? He lost 2 pounds in one
week just from that simple change to his daily routine.
I had another client who would skip breakfast regularly because she
Behavior Modification
39
claimed she didn’t have time in the morning. When lunch rolled around, she
would be ravenous and wind up eating everything in sight, overwhelming a
metabolism that was sluggish from not having been revved up by a morning
meal. My solution? I took her grocery shopping and showed her the healthy
low-calorie foods she could run out the door with every morning, like an apple, a low-fat yogurt, or a single serving of low-cal cottage cheese.
This stuff isn’t brain surgery—it’s common sense. If you take the time to
think ahead, you can come up with ways to combat every potentially sabotaging situation. Here are some examples.
1. Go through your kitchen and throw out all the junk food and processed garbage immediately—you can’t eat it if it’s not there. Don’t
buy these foods anymore at the store—just eliminate them from your
kitchen entirely. Even if you have to put up with a little whining from
the kids or your spouse or whoever, they’re better off not eating that
crap as well. Reacquaint yourself with your local supermarket, ﬁnd the
healthy sections, and try to avoid the snack food aisles or whatever
foods make you feel powerless.
2. If you get into trouble during the day at the ofﬁce, see if you can really make an effort to avoid the high-voltage areas. If there is a vending machine in the ofﬁce kitchen that gets you every time or if the
cafeteria offers a lot of fattening foods, stay away from these places.
Bring healthy snacks and meals of your own to keep at your desk. Do
whatever you can to steer clear of anything that might throw you off
course and hamper your success.
3. If you are tempted by fast-food joints or other unwholesome foods
on your daily commute to and from work, ﬁnd yourself a different
route if you can, even if it adds a few minutes to your journey. You
can’t stop for a cheeseburger if you don’t go by the fast-food chain.
It’s worth a longer commute to have this temptation out of your
face.
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WINNING BY LOSING
4. When you go to restaurants, ask the waiter not to bring chips,
bread, or anything else you don’t want to graze on just because it’s
there.
5. When you’re on the road or away from home for any reason, pack
healthy snacks to take with you so that you’re not relying on whatever’s available when hunger strikes. Whether you’re ﬂying or going to
the mall, bring something healthy with you so that you don’t have to
eat junk if it’s all that’s around.
6. If food commercials on television make you hungry and drive you
to snack uncontrollably, videorecord your shows so that you can skip
the commercials, or keep a few magazines close by so that you have
something to zone out with until the commercials are over.
LEARNING BEHAVIORS THAT ARE
INCOMPATIBLE WITH OVEREATING
Start coming up with some of your own healthy behaviors. This is particularly
useful if your problem relates to emotional eating. Whether it’s out of boredom, anxiety, depression, anger, or even pleasure, you can learn to employ activities that are incompatible with overeating or being otherwise self-destructive.
Here are some examples.
1. Get active. Start incorporating more physical exercise into your
daily routine. Get a hobby that combines being physically active with
socializing. Start taking your dog for longer walks. Get an exercise
bike or join a dance class. I could go on and on. There are any number
of ways you can get your body going, but ﬁnd activities you like so
that you will have less trouble being motivated to move. Physical exercise helps reduce stress and keeps you feeling balanced so that you will
be less prone to emotional overeating.
Behavior Modification
41
2. Relax and pamper yourself. Take a long bubble bath; treat yourself to
a manicure or a massage; buy yourself a little something you’ve been
wanting; give yourself time to read a book. Find ways to treat yourself
like a king or a queen without resorting to food.
3. Be productive and responsible. Find something in your life that
you’ve been meaning to do—a big project or a nagging chore—and
stop letting its undoneness make you feel bad or lazy. Fix up your
house, pay your bills, clean out the attic, go through your closets and
take a bag of stuff you don’t want to the Salvation Army, or just do
laundry. If you start to take charge of the external things in your life, it
will be easier to take charge of the internal ones.
You’ll notice that these suggestions will pay off in terms of weight loss,
but they will also lead to your becoming a more relaxed, healthier, and happier human being. By taking the time to look after yourself, you are reminding yourself and stating to the world that you are worth it, that you know you
deserve the best life has to offer. Once you project this kind of attitude, you’ll
see that your reality will adapt to afﬁrm you.
CURBING MINDLESS EATING
Here’s another thing: the grazing has got to stop. Having a scheduled snack is
one thing, but picking at things throughout the day just because they’re
around can add up to major calories before you know it. If this is your problem, try some of the following tactics, see which ones work for you, or let
them guide you to your own solutions.
To curb daytime grazing:
1. Don’t eat while standing up, in the car, or when you’re on
the go or you don’t have time to have a proper meal. If
you’re more relaxed while you eat, you will be less likely to
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2.
throw whatever food is at hand into your mouth inbetween meals.
Don’t skip meals! You might think you’re saving yourself
calories, but you’ll wind up so hungry that you’ll probably
consume extra calories to feel full.
To curb nighttime grazing:
3. Nighttime grazing is often a result of boredom. Perhaps
4.
5.
now is a good time to take up that hobby you’ve been
thinking about.
Brush your teeth. Food never seems quite as appealing
when you have toothpaste mouth.
Try making yourself a cup of hot tea; the warm liquid in
your stomach can help you feel satiated.
To curb grazing at parties and social events:
6. Take a ﬁber supplement or have a healthy snack before you
go so that right off the bat you’re not hungry and tempted.
7. Focus on the company, not the food.
8. Hang out as far away from the food as you can, preferably
in a separate room.
9. If it’s appropriate, bring your own healthy dish to share
with the party.
LEARNING TO SLOW DOWN
Eating too quickly is one of the leading causes of overeating. It takes twenty
minutes for your stomach to register the food you eat and send the “I’m full”
message to your brain. If you are barreling through your meals in ﬁfteen minutes, you are probably eating way more than is necessary to satisfy your
Behavior Modification
43
hunger. Force yourself to slow down. Savor and enjoy your meal. Here are
some tricks to keep in mind.
1. If you’re right-handed, eat with your left hand, and vice
2.
3.
4.
versa.
Cut your food into small pieces, and eat your meal one
morsel at a time.
Make yourself put your silverware down in between bites.
Take a sip of a beverage in between bites. Water is always
best.
I know these hints may sound silly, but they work. Slow yourself down
and you will ﬁnd that you feel satisﬁed before you are tempted to reach for a
second helping.
CUTTING PORTION SIZE
Americans have totally skewed ideas about portion size. I have never been to a
country that has portions as enormous as we do. Honestly, go anywhere else in
the world and check this out. We are a gluttonous society conditioned to think
that more equals better. Just look at the “super-size me” phenomenon—the insidious up-selling of fast food in chain restaurants, movie theaters, and countless other consumer-driven environments. Customers are encouraged to eat
more in order to take advantage of a “bargain.” The idea that you need 100
french fries in one sitting just to save a quarter you wouldn’t have spent in the
ﬁrst place is a mistaken notion that Americans are paying for with their health
and sometimes their lives. Here are a few techniques you can put into play to
safeguard against overeating due to lack of portion control.
1. If you’re at home, use smaller plates to create the illusion of
a bigger serving.
2. If you’re at a restaurant and you know the portions are
huge, ask the server to put half of your meal in a doggy bag
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WINNING BY LOSING
3.
4.
before it’s even brought to you. This saves you money as
well as unnecessary calorie overload.
Try sharing an entrée with your dining partner.
Make a new rule for yourself that there always has to be
something left on your plate. Leaving something on your
plate will bring it home that you are in control of the food,
not the other way around. A little bit of empowerment can
go a long way!
At the end of the day, these tips are nothing more than common-sense wisdom that I’ve gathered over the years as I’ve strived to maintain the best
health and well-being possible. I know that some of the suggestions may
sound thought- or time-consuming and generally inconvenient. But aren’t we
here together in the ﬁrst place because you want to look and feel great about
yourself? Be conscientious and keep your eye on the prize. Remember that
you’re totally worth it.
If you listen to one thing and one thing only (but you’d better be listening
to more than that!), listen to this: Choose the healthy option. Go for low-cal,
low-fat foods instead of junk. Junk is usually more readily available, so this
will take persistence—but what worthwhile mission doesn’t? If you’re going to
graze, have half an apple instead of a candy bar. Have a bowl of air-popped
popcorn instead of a bag of potato chips. Have a sugar-free dessert instead of
ice cream. If you’re going to drink soda, make it diet. In the next part, we’ll get
speciﬁc about nutrition and what you should and shouldn’t be eating. Old
habits die hard, but keep at it. When your patience and hard work start to pay
off, the results will afﬁrm you in ways you never imagined possible.
Behavior Modification
45
p a r t
SCIENCE
2
Dispelling Myths
In the last section, we went over the internal work you need to do in order to
really effect change in your life, and while it’s true that getting healthy has a lot
to do with where your head is at, there is more to it. Now it’s time to talk
about the next “S” you have to focus on: the science behind our bodies so you
have the knowledge to transform your body and regain control over your life.
First, it is crucial for you to understand that there is no product, procedure, or miracle-diet that is going to do the work for you to lose weight—you
cannot cheat and expect to win. On my own personal journey toward weight
loss, I must have tried over twenty different diets, taken every so-called “fatburning” and “metabolism-enhancing” pill on the market, and experimented
with every exercise gadget ever sold. I even ﬂirted with the idea of liposuction.
To ﬁgure out what really works, I went damn-near crazy trying to decipher all
the conﬂicting information and half-baked nutritional theories. I’m sure at
some point you’ve experienced the same confusion. So before we kick start
your new lifestyle, let’s cut through the bull once and for all by dispelling some
of the diet myths and misconceptions that may be holding you back.
49
THE STARVATION TRAP
The ﬁrst myth on the chopping block is the idea that starvation is the fastest
way to lose weight. I can’t tell you how many of my clients have attempted to
starve themselves thin; they go on crazy crash diets that severely restrict caloric
intake, or experiment with liquid diets and fasting. What they don’t know is
that this is a one-way ticket to failure: Not eating enough triggers your body’s
starvation survival mechanism, causing your metabolism to slow down to
hoard fat and keep your vital organs protected and insulated. Because your
body is holding on to all the fat it can, it begins to draw energy from your
muscles instead; you will lose weight, but it will be valuable muscle tissue.
Muscles are your body’s metabolic furnace—they burn calories even when
you’re sleeping—and the less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism
will be. As soon as you go off the starvation diet, which you must at some
point, you will gain back all the weight you lost, and usually more, because
you have made your body less efﬁcient at using energy. This insane process of
losing weight only to gain it right back is called yo-yo dieting; it can make you
feel weak and tired, can severely jeopardize your immune system, and can
leave you feeling frustrated and despondent about ever losing the weight for
good.
MAGIC PILLS AND MIRACLE SURGERIES
Diet pills and surgical weight-loss options are two more examples of detrimental quick ﬁxes. Diet products and procedures are for the most part simply gimmicks that target people’s apathy and hopelessness about their own health.
All you have to do is look at the ﬁne print on the packaging of most of these
products to see that they are completely bogus. Take a look next time you’re at
the store: you’ll ﬁnd there is almost always a disclaimer that says something
like, “This product can successfully help you lose weight when accompanied
by a sensible diet and exercise program.” The product itself has nothing to do
with your weight-loss success. There are some supplements on the market that
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WINNING BY LOSING
can help maximize your weight-loss regimen, but if you are not eating right
and exercising, they are totally ineffective.
If you think that surgery is a safe way of shedding pounds without having to do any work, think again. One in ﬁfty patients who undergo gastric
bypass surgery will die within a month of the operation, and even patients
who make a full recovery are left struggling unaided with the issues that
caused them to be overweight in the ﬁrst place, because psychologically
and emotionally these quick-ﬁx measures target only the symptom, not the
root cause of weight problems—that’s why my program begins with the internal work and why you’re going to see the results you haven’t seen in the
past.
Many of my clients come to me having tried everything and are desperate
to know how to cut through all the crap and ﬁgure out what works. Kelly Minner from my team on The Biggest Loser burst into tears telling me about all the
diets and products she tried in the past . . . but this was before she lost 85
pounds in 5 months. What I told Kelly and what I’m telling you is that once
you let go of the easy-way-out fantasy and start working with your body not
against it, nothing can stand in the way of your success.
Obviously you can’t start working with your body unless you have a basic understanding of how it functions. In the following chapters I will lead
you on a crash course in the science of weight loss. That’s right, I said science. But don’t worry—we’re talking basic stuff here, and I will make it easy
to follow.
Our main focus will be on you as an individual with a unique biology and
your own distinct nutritional needs. I will tell you everything you need to know
about how to whip your metabolism into shape and get it on your side and
working for you. I will also break down the various diets that are out there so
that you can see which elements from which type of diet works best for you.
This is a critical step on the road to lasting health, so do yourself a favor and
bear with me here.
Your life and your happiness are things you have to be willing to put some
time into and do a little work for. Believe me, the payoff is more than worth it.
Science
51
Once you have a ﬁrm grasp on the basic facts, you will have the tools you need
to negotiate your way through the myths and misrepresentations that may
have tripped you up in the past as well as the knowledge to custom-design
your own diet and ﬁtness regimen so that you are in control and can achieve
your maximum success.
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6
Weight Loss 101:
Crunching Numbers
irst thing’s ﬁrst: weight loss is simple math—you must burn more calories
than you consume. I know this might sound simple, but you’d be amazed
at all the diets there are out there that cloud this issue. All of the members
of my team on The Biggest Loser had tried countless diets, had stuck to it and
avoided all the forbidden foods, and couldn’t understand why they hadn’t
lost weight. Because, unbelievably, most diets, while they will tell you what
you supposedly can and can’t eat, do not deal with the cold, hard numbers. As
everyone saw, my math seemed to work out for them when nothing else had.
Let me break it down for you, too. Calories are a measure of the amount of energy provided by the food you eat—the more calories you eat, the more energy
you are giving your body. If you give your body more energy than it can use,
whatever you don’t use will be stored as fat. In order to consume fewer calories than you burn and lose weight, you obviously ﬁrst need to know how
many calories your body is burning.
F
53
FIGURING OUT YOUR ACTIVE METABOLIC RATE
The number of calories you burn in a day is known as your active metabolic
rate (AMR). Rates vary from person to person, so it is crucial that you take the
time to ﬁgure yours out—if you don’t, you run the risk of consuming too
many calories or even consuming too few. Both of these extremes are harmful:
you don’t want to take in energy that you don’t use because it will be stored as
fat, but you also don’t want to take in too little energy or your body will start
holding on to fat. Once you know your AMR, you will be able to balance
caloric intake and expenditure in the way that’s best for your weight-loss
goals.
Your AMR takes into account the following three factors. You will need to
make these three preliminary calculations in order to arrive at your total daily
caloric expenditure.
1. Basal Metabolic Rate
Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns in
a day when operating at absolute minimum capacity. Basically, if you sat on
the couch all day long and did nothing, your BMR is how many calories your
body would burn just to maintain basic activities such as heartbeat, digestion,
respiration, and tissue repair.
Your BMR is inﬂuenced by a number of factors, among them age, weight,
height, gender, environmental temperature, and your diet and exercise habits.
The younger you are, the higher your BMR is likely to be, since younger people have higher rates of cellular activity. In addition, men will generally have
higher BMRs than women, since men usually have a greater percentage of
calorie-burning lean muscle tissue in their physical makeup. Because of these
variations, it is hard to pin down your BMR to the exact calorie, but we can get
close. Here are gender-speciﬁc formulas for ﬁguring out your BMR, so get
your calculator ready and plug your numbers into whichever formula applies
to you.
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MALE:
66 + (6.3 × body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 × height in inches) −
(6.8 × age in years)
FEMALE:
655 + (4.3 × weight in lbs.) + (4.7 × height in inches) − (4.7
× age in years)
Keep that calculator handy. Your basal metabolic rate only accounts for
approximately 75 percent of your total daily caloric expenditure.
2. Daily Activity Level
The second factor in the calculation of your total daily caloric expenditure is
how physically active you are in your everyday life, not counting exercise (that
comes later). Determine which one of these descriptions best ﬁts your day-today routine, then give yourself the appropriate score.
a. Sedentary Physical Activity Level
Do you have a desk job or do some other kind of work that
entails sitting down for most of the day? If the answer is yes,
your score is 1.1.
b. Light Physical Activity Level
Are you on your feet and walking around for half the day or
more? Some examples of people who would fall into this category are stay-at-home mothers, salespeople, and doctors. If
this is you, your score is 1.2.
c. Moderate Physical Activity Level
This level is if you’re on the move pretty much all day, with a
few limited periods of being sedentary. Examples of people in
We i g h t Lo ss 101 : C r u n c h i n g N u m b e rs
55
this category would be gardeners, carpenters, and mail carriers. If you’re in this category, your score is 1.3.
d. High Physical Activity Level
Does your job require being constantly on the move and
does it entail signiﬁcant amounts of manual labor? Examples
of people in this category include construction workers, farm
workers, and movers. If you’re in this group, your score is 1.4.
Write down your daily physical activity level score here: ______
3. Exercise Expenditure
The third and ﬁnal element you need to calculate your active metabolic rate
is the number of calories you burn from exercise on an average day. The
number of calories you burn during any exercise session depends on a few
things, primarily your body weight. The one way not to ﬁgure out how many
calories you burn during exercise is to go by the monitor on the machine
you’re using, since exercise machines are not set up to take everything into
account and are generally inaccurate. The most effective way to calculate the
calories you’ve burned during exercise is with a heart rate monitor. Once
you’ve programmed it with your personal information, it will give you a
much more accurate account of the calories you burn as you burn them. I
cannot suggest strongly enough that you buy one. In the meantime, use the
following chart to help you ﬁgure out the number of calories you burn from
exercise on an average day according to your weight, the type of exercise you
do, and its duration.
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EXERCISE EXPENDITURE CHART
WEIGHT
(in pounds)
ACTIVITY
100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350
CALORIES BURNED DURING 1 HOUR
Walking 4 mph 199 249 299 349 399 449 499 549 599 649 699
Jogging 5 mph
376 426 476 526 576 626 676 727 776 826 876
Swimming
199 249 299 349 399 449 499 549 599 649 699
Cycling 13 mph 560 610 660 710 760 810 860 910 960 1010 1060
Heavy Aerobic
444 494 544 594 644 694 744 794 844 894 944
Light Weights
172 222 272 322 372 422 472 522 572 622 672
Intense Weights 392 442 492 542 592 642 692 742 792 842 892
Write the number here: __________
Now write the three numbers you’ve come up with here:
BMR =
__________
×
×
Daily Activity Score =
__________
+
Exercise Expenditure =
=
Active Metabolic Rate =
=
= __________
+
__________
__________
Simply multiply your BMR by your Daily Activity Score, then add your
Exercise Expenditure. Whatever you get from this ﬁnal calculation is your
magic number. Now that you know your AMR, let’s ﬁgure out how to lose
some weight!
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57
SETTING WEIGHT-LOSS GOALS INTO A TIMEFRAME
A pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. Using your AMR, you can calculate
with great precision exactly how many calories you have to consume and burn
in order to lose the number of pounds you want. If you want to lose 1 pound
in a week, you will have to build up a caloric deﬁcit of 3,500 calories over the
course of that week, or a deﬁcit of 500 calories daily. To lose 2 pounds in a
week, you’ll have to create a caloric deﬁcit of 7,000 calories over the week, or
1,000 calories daily, and so on. Get the idea?
With this simple math you can set your weekly weight-loss targets. Contrary to popular belief, losing weight quickly is not unhealthy if you do it
through proper nutrition and exercise, not through starvation. Obviously, if
you have a personal or family history of cardiac disease, you should consult
your doctor before starting any diet and ﬁtness program. But in general there
is absolutely no scientiﬁc evidence to suggest that losing weight fast is harmful to your heart in any way if it’s done right. There is a minimal risk of gallstones from dropping weight too quickly through severe calorie restriction,
but exercise and adequate ﬁber intake will prevent this problem.
Having said that, my personal recommendation is that you aim for 2
pounds a week, since anything more ambitious than that could lead to
burnout or bingeing. Remember, this is about creating a healthy lifestyle and
instituting changes you can live with forever, not crash dieting. Rome wasn’t
built in a day.
COUNTING CALORIES
Now that you know how to calculate the number of calories you can consume
while losing weight, it’s time to learn some simple methods for keeping a
record of your intake so that you know how to stay on target. To get started,
you will need:
1. A food journal
2. A kitchen scale and measuring cups
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3. A calorie-counter book—make sure you get one that includes information on protein, fat, and carbohydrate contents
Start keeping a written record of absolutely everything you eat throughout your day, and be detailed. For example, don’t just write down chicken.
Write down how it was prepared and how much you ate. At ﬁrst you should
measure and weigh your food to ﬁgure out exactly how many calories you’re
consuming, and it is important to make sure you are always measuring raw;
when food is cooked, it is more dense and has more calories. I know measuring everything can be tedious, but it won’t take long for you to know by heart
what a cup of milk looks like or how many ounces of chicken are in a small
breast. Before you know it, you’ll be eyeballing your portions like a pro. If you
ﬁnd yourself in a situation where you don’t have the luxury of using your
measuring equipment, here are some useful tips for assessing portion sizes
using your hand.
◆ The size of your ﬁst is roughly equal to a cup-size serving
of cereal, wild rice, black beans, and so on.
◆ The size of your thumb is roughly equal to an ounce-size
◆
◆
serving of cheese, and so on.
The tip of your thumb is roughly equal to a teaspoon of
olive oil or butter.
The center of the palm of your hand, without ﬁngers, is
roughly equal to a 3-ounce serving of ﬁsh, chicken, beef,
and so on.
At the end of every day, use your calorie-counter book to add up the calories you have consumed. There are even websites such as www.caloriesperhour.com that will add them up for you. Using these simple methods, you can
make sure you are eating the right amount of calories to achieve your weightloss goals.
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59
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO
As you start to design a dietary plan based on your target weight, there are a
couple of things it’s good to know about calorie restriction and your metabolism. One of the keys to successful, continued weight loss is keeping your
metabolism working at top speed so that you are burning as many calories
as you can. When you start to eat less, however, your metabolism will slow
down to conserve energy in reaction to the reduction in your caloric intake.
This is what causes the dreaded dieter’s plateau. We’ve all been there: you
start off full of determination, but all of a sudden the pounds stop coming
off. There is nothing more discouraging than stepping on the scale after a
week of diligent dieting and grueling workouts, and not seeing any drop in
the numbers. The plateau is a common problem among dieters and can typically be waited out. Stick with it for a few weeks and the scale will most
likely continue its downward swing. But there are also measures you can
take to try and keep your metabolism ﬁred up even as you reduce your
caloric intake.
To begin with, it is important never to let your caloric intake drop below
1,500 if you’re a man and 1,200 if you’re a woman. Restricting yourself any
further will quickly signal your metabolism to slow down. Also, don’t go too
long without eating. Four hours without food is a reasonable maximum.
Don’t skip meals and always eat breakfast. This will keep your blood sugar
stable and cravings under control.
Another way to prevent your metabolism from slowing is to vary your intake from day to day throughout the week—the human body cannot slow metabolism to adjust to a reduced caloric intake if it isn’t ﬁxed from one day to
the next. For example, if I want to lose 1 pound in a week, I have to create a
caloric deﬁcit of 3,500 over the course of that week. My weekly AMR (my daily
AMR multiplied by 7) is 13,300, so in order to lose 1 pound, I will have to limit
my weekly caloric intake to 9,800 (my AMR minus the 3,500 calories that burn
off 1 pound). As long as I don’t consume more than 9,800 calories during the
week, I will lose that pound, but rather than eating 1,400 calories each day to
achieve that weekly deﬁcit, I’m much better off varying intake from day to day
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so that my metabolism is not able to adapt to a ﬁxed reduction. Here’s an example of how I could break the numbers down:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:
Total weekly caloric intake:
1,200 calories
1,500 calories
1,200 calories
1,600 calories
1,200 calories
1,400 calories
1,700 calories
9,800
See how this works? My total weekly caloric intake is 9,800, which is
where I need it to be in order to lose 1 pound, but I’ve varied my daily caloric
intake so that my metabolism isn’t able to adapt to the restriction.
There are also some exercise-based solutions to the dieter’s plateau, which I
will cover in the Sweat section.
The plateau effect can be a factor of plain and simple ﬂagging resolve. If
you’ve hit a plateau and mixing up your caloric intake just isn’t working, make
sure you are not slipping on your diet without realizing it and that you are not
slacking off in your workouts. Make sure as well that you are keeping up with
your food journal and that you are being honest and accurate. The bottom line
when it comes to the dieter’s plateau is this: It will pass. Don’t give up.
One last thing to keep in mind as you begin: When you start a new diet
and exercise program, you will lose a signiﬁcant amount of water weight at
ﬁrst, and it’s likely that in the ﬁrst month you will lose more weight than you
would ordinarily expect from the caloric deﬁcits you are building up from
week to week. By month 2, your system will begin to even itself out, and
weight loss will continue at whatever rate is appropriate to your caloric intake/deﬁcit ratios. Again, 2 pounds a week is a reasonable weight-loss goal,
but now that you know how to work the numbers for yourself, you can design
your regimen around any weekly weight-loss goal you like.
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61
7
Metabolic Typing
ou may be thinking that as long as you stay within your caloric range for
the week, you can eat whatever you want. Although it’s true that at a basic
level weight loss is simple math, there is more to losing weight and getting
healthy than just numbers. As you restrict your caloric intake, it is absolutely
essential that you eat the right kinds of food to build muscle, strengthen your
immune system, and stay energized throughout the process. Sounds simple,
right? It would be, except that the way to do this is different for everyone.
Y
DETERMINING YOUR METABOLIC TYPE
For many years nutritional science has taken a generic, overly standardized
approach to health and weight loss. This is why there is no one diet that
works for everyone. There was all that hype about the Atkins diet, but Kelly,
one of my contestants on The Biggest Loser, lost just one pound in a month of
sticking to Atkins. Because I know that we are all different and need to diet according to our speciﬁc body’s characteristics, I was able to coach her to lose
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ﬁfty-ﬁve pounds in three months. We were working together on the show, and
she lost thirty-ﬁve more after that.
Why? Inherited genetics make each one of us unique, from the color of
our hair right down to the way our organs function. This uniqueness extends
to the way our cells convert nutrients into energy. In order to know how to get
the most nutritional bang for your calorie buck, you need to understand your
unique metabolic type. Once you do, you can begin to custom design your
new dietary lifestyle around the foods that will help you achieve and maintain
your ideal weight while also optimizing your physical energy, strength, and
mental clarity.
Metabolic typing is really just fancy talk for ﬁguring out how your body
processes what you eat—more speciﬁcally, how your body deals with the three
basic macronutrients in food: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Imagine that
you are a furnace: your body takes the food you eat and burns it with oxygen
to convert its caloric content into energy. This process is known as oxidation,
and it’s how the carb content in your food gets turned into glucose and released into the blood. When glucose is released into the blood, the pancreas is
cued to release insulin to “clean” your blood of any sugar that is not being
used by the body as energy and carry it to your cells, where it gets stored as fat.
The fact that we all oxidize the nutrients in our food in different ways is the
reason why a particular diet will work for one person and not for another. If
you know more about how the nutrients in your food act on your system, you
can avoid a lot of unnecessary pitfalls and really maximize your results as you
continue on your journey toward total health.
Although rates can vary a lot from one person to the next, most people
can be classiﬁed according to three basic groups:
1. Fast oxidizers
2. Slow oxidizers
3. Balanced oxidizers
Fast oxidizers burn through the nutrients in their food very rapidly, with
the consequence that the carb content is broken down to glucose and released
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into the blood almost at once. This sudden increase in blood sugar triggers a
rapid release of large amounts of insulin to clean away excess sugar, which is
stored as fat in your cells. The more carb content in your food, the more energy will be available to your body right away, and the greater the chance that
it will not be needed and get stored as fat. Insulin is a quick and effective
blood-cleaner, and the dramatic leaps and falls in blood sugar levels that result from fast oxidation lead to the sugar crash effect. For a fast oxidizer,
foods with high carb ratios cause fatigue and carb cravings as well as promote
fat storage.
Fast oxidizers should eat foods with more proteins and fats in order to
slow down their rate of oxidation and insulin release, and to better promote
stable blood sugar and sustained energy levels.
Slow oxidizers burn through the nutrients in their food slowly and do not
release the glucose from carbohydrates into the blood quickly enough, which
means that they do not get converted into glucose, and energy production
and availability are delayed.
A slow oxidizer should eat foods with higher ratios of carbs, since protein
and fat slow the rate of oxidation and energy production even further.
Balanced oxidizers fall right in between the two. They require foods that
have equal quantities of protein, fat, and carbs in order to optimally process,
produce, and use the energy from their food.
Now that we have deﬁned the different metabolic types, you’re probably
wondering how you’re supposed to know what’s happening in your blood
every time you have a snack. Don’t worry—there’s a test, and you can take it
right now, and all you need is a pencil and paper. The test is made up of a series of detailed questions that bear on everything from the foods you crave to
the dryness of your skin. These questions cover such a wide range of physical
attributes because scientists now believe that metabolic type, i.e., the way in
which your body processes nutrients, is wired right into a part of your central
nervous system that controls a host of other functions within your body.
Consequently, if you take a closer look at some of the peripheral functions in
your own body, they will shed light on your particular oxidative type and help
you pinpoint your speciﬁc nutritional needs.
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Oxidizer Test
For each of these questions, circle the response that best applies to you. You may not know the answer right off the bat—it
may take a couple of days if you have to see a pattern, but really think about these questions and analyze how different
foods affect your body and your moods. The better you know
yourself, the greater your odds of achieving exactly the results
you want.
In the morning, you
A. Don’t eat breakfast.
B. Have something light like fruit, toast, or cereal.
C. Have something heavy like eggs, bacon or steak, and hash
browns.
At a buffet, the foods you choose are
A. Light meats like ﬁsh and chicken, vegetables and salad, a
sampling of different desserts.
B. A mixture of A and C.
C. Heavy, fatty foods like steak, ribs, pork chops, cheeses,
and cream sauces.
Your appetite at lunch is
A. Low.
B. Normal.
C. Strong.
Your appetite at dinner is
A. Low.
B. Normal.
C. Strong.
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Caffeine makes you feel
A. Great—it helps you focus.
B. Neutral—you can take it or leave it.
C. Jittery or nauseous.
The types of foods you crave are (sugar is not listed because
everyone craves sugar when they are tired or run-down)
A. Fruits, bread, and crackers.
B. Both A and C.
C. Salty foods, cheeses, and meats.
For dinner you prefer
A. Chicken or ﬁsh, salad, and rice.
B. No preference—choice varies daily.
C. Heavier, fatty foods like pastas, steak, and potatoes.
After dinner you
A. Need to have something sweet.
B. Could take dessert or leave it.
C. Don’t care for sweets and would rather have something
salty like popcorn.
The types of sweets you like are
A. Sugary candies.
B. No preference.
C. Ice cream or cheesecake.
Eating fatty foods like meat and cheese before bed
A. Interferes with your sleep.
B. Doesn’t bother you.
C. Improves your sleep.
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Eating carbs like breads and crackers before your bed
A. Interferes with your sleep, but they’re better than heavier
foods.
B. Doesn’t affect you.
C. Is better than nothing, but you sleep better with heavier
foods.
Eating sweets before bed
A. Doesn’t keep you from sleeping at all.
B. Sometimes makes you feel restless in bed.
C. Keeps you up all night.
Each day, you eat
A. Two or three meals with no snacks.
B. Three meals with maybe one light snack.
C. Three meals and a lot of snacks.
Your attitude toward food is
A. You often forget to eat.
B. You enjoy food and rarely miss a meal.
C. You love food and it’s a central part of your life.
When you skip meals, you feel
A. Fine.
B. You don’t function at your best, but it doesn’t really
bother you.
C. Shaky, irritable, weak, and tired.
Your attitude toward fatty foods is
A. You don’t like them.
B. You like them occasionally.
C. You crave them regularly.
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When you eat fruit salad for breakfast or lunch, you feel
A. Satisﬁed.
B. Okay, but you usually need a snack in between meals.
C. Unsatisﬁed and still hungry.
What kind of food drains your energy?
A. Fatty foods.
B. No food affects you this way.
C. Fruit, candy, or confections, which give you a quick
boost, then an energy crash.
Your food portions are
A. Small—less than average.
B. Average—not more or less than other people.
C. Large—usually more than most people.
How do you feel about potatoes?
A. You don’t care for them.
B. You could take them or leave them.
C. You love them.
Red meat makes you feel
A. Tired.
B. No particular feeling one way or the other.
C. Strong.
A salad for lunch makes you feel
A. Energized and healthy.
B. Fine, but it isn’t the best type of food for you.
C. Sleepy.
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How do you feel about salt?
A. Foods often taste too salty.
B. You don’t notice one way or the other.
C. You crave salt and salt your food regularly.
How do you feel about snacks?
A. You don’t really snack, but you like something sweet if
you do.
B. You can snack on anything.
C. You need snacks but prefer meats, cheeses, eggs, or nuts.
How do you feel about sour foods like pickles, lemon juice, or
vinegar?
A. You don’t like them.
B. They don’t bother you one way or the other.
C. You like them.
How do you feel about sweets?
A. Sweets alone can satisfy your appetite.
B. They don’t bother you but don’t totally satisfy you.
C. You don’t feel satisﬁed and often crave more sweets.
When you just eat meat (bacon, sausage, ham) for breakfast,
you feel
A. Sleepy, lethargic, or irritable.
B. It varies day to day.
C. Full until lunch.
When you eat heavy or fatty foods, you feel
A. Irritable.
B. Neutral—they don’t affect you.
C. Satisﬁed.
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When you feel anxious
A. Fruits or vegetables calm you down.
B. Eating anything calms you down.
C. Fatty foods calm you down.
You concentrate best when you eat
A. Fruits and grains.
B. Nothing in particular.
C. Meat and fatty food.
You feel more depressed when you eat
A. Fatty or heavy foods.
B. Nothing in particular.
C. Fruits, breads, or sweets.
You notice you gain weight when you eat
A. Fatty foods.
B. No particular food. You gain weight when you overeat.
C. Fruits or carbs.
What type of insomnia, if any, applies to you?
A. You rarely get insomnia from hunger.
B. You rarely get insomnia, but if you do, you often need to
eat something in order to fall back asleep.
C. You often wake up during the night and need to eat. If
you eat right before bed, it alleviates the insomnia.
Your personality type is
A. Aloof, withdrawn, or introverted.
B. Neither introverted nor extroverted.
C. Extroverted.
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Your mental and physical stamina are better when you eat
A. Light proteins like egg whites, chicken, or ﬁsh and fruits.
B. Any wholesome food.
C. Fatty foods.
Your climate preference is
A. Warm or hot weather.
B. Doesn’t matter.
C. Cold weather.
You have problems with coughing or chest pressure.
If yes, “C”; if no, move on to the next question.
You have a tendency to get cracked skin or dandruff
If yes, “C”; if no, move on to the next question.
You have a tendency to get light-headed or dizzy
If yes, “C”; if no, move on to the next question.
Your eyes tend to be
A. Dry.
B. Fine.
C. Teary.
Your facial coloring is
A. Noticeably pale.
B. Average.
C. Pink or often ﬂushed.
Your ﬁngernails are
A. Thick.
B. Average.
C. Thin.
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Your gag reﬂex is
A. Insensitive.
B. Normal.
C. Sensitive.
You get goose bumps
A. Often.
B. Occasionally.
C. Very rarely.
You are prone to
A. Constipation.
B. No stomach problems.
C. Diarrhea.
When insects bite you, your reaction is
A. Mild.
B. Average.
C. Strong.
Your body type is
A. Short and stocky.
B. Average.
C. Tall and thin.
Your nose is
A. Dry.
B. Normal.
C. Runny.
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Scoring Your Metabolic Typing Test
When you have ﬁnished the test, add up the number of A answers, B answers, and C answers you have circled.
A______ B______ C______
If your number of C answers is 5 or more higher than your
number of A or B answers, you are a fast oxidizer.
If your number of A answers is 5 or more higher than your
number of B or C answers, you are a slow oxidizer.
If your number of B answers is 5 or more higher than your
number of A or C answers, or if neither A, B, nor C’s are 5 or
more higher than the other two, you are a balanced oxidizer.
If you’ve answered this questionnaire and you are still not clear which category is the right one for you, there are two other tests you can take to help
clarify your metabolic type. These tests are a little drastic and provocative, and
they are only intended for those who truly cannot type themselves using the
questionnaire.
1. Niacin test: Take 50 milligrams of niacin on an empty stomach. If
you experience an immediate ﬂush, you are most likely a fast oxidizer.
If you experience a moderate ﬂushing effect, you are a balanced oxidizer. If you experience a signiﬁcantly delayed ﬂushing or nothing at
all, you are a slow oxidizer.
2. Vitamin C test: Take 8 grams of vitamin C in equally divided doses
over 8 hours. The fast oxidizer will respond by feeling acidic and un-
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comfortable, and may even experience other symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, or increased intestinal gas. A true balanced oxidizer may
ﬁnd that his or her stomach feels less acidic. A slow oxidizer will have
no response at all.
I’m assuming you have now identiﬁed yourself somewhere along the
fast-slow continuum. Now it’s time to get to know more about your type.
Read whichever section applies to you to learn the particular foods and eating habits that are right for your type. If you’re good to your metabolism,
it’ll return the favor by working to help you maintain weight loss and good
health.
FAST OXIDIZERS
Fast oxidizers
You require foods with higher percentages of protein and fat than carbohydrates. Make sure there is protein in everything you eat including snacks.
Your ideal macronutrient ratio is 20 percent carbs, 50 percent protein, 30 percent fat.
Proteins
All proteins are not created equal. The ones that are best for you are highpurine proteins, which are commonly found in fattier meats. This is not to
say that you should cut out chicken or ﬁsh, but you need the heavier proteins
most because they help slow down your rate of oxidation. Choose from this
list of proteins when deciding on a meal or snack.
High Purine: organ meats (pâté, liver, etc.), herring,
mussels, sardines, anchovies
Moderate Purine: beef, bacon, dark meat chicken,
duck, lamb, spareribs, dark meat turkey, veal, wild
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game, salmon, shellﬁsh (lobster, shrimp, crab), oysters, scallops, octopus, squid, dark tuna
Low Purine: cottage cheese, milk, yogurt, eggs, cheese,
white meat chicken, turkey, ﬁsh
Carbohydrates
Your metabolism thrives when your carb intake is limited, but there are different kinds of carbs. Some aren’t as bad as others. Avoid simple carbs, which
convert to sugar quickly in the bloodstream. The carbs you can incorporate
into your diet are the complex kind found mostly in nonstarchy vegetables.
You can choose from these ideal carbs when deciding on a meal or snack.
Low-Starch vegetables: asparagus, cauliﬂower, celery,
mushrooms, spinach
Fruits: avocado, olives, apples and pears (in limited
quantity and never without protein on the side)
Grains: sprouted grain bread only (Ezekiel bread is a
well-known brand that is available at supermarkets
and health–food stores)
Legumes, tempeh, tofu
Fats
To best support your metabolism, you should be getting roughly 30 percent
of your daily caloric intake from natural oils and fats. Choose these ideal fats
when deciding on meal or snack preparation.
Nuts/Seeds (listed in order of protein content): walnuts, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, sunﬂower seeds,
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sesame seeds, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, ﬁlberts,
pecans, chestnuts, pistachios, coconut, macadamias
Fat/Oils: butter, cream, almond oil, peanut oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, ﬂaxseed oil, sunﬂower oil, walnut oil
Along with knowing the foods that are ideal for you, it is important to
know the foods that are worst for you. You don’t always have to eat off the
ideal foods list, but the following foods will sabotage your weight-loss efforts.
1. Don’t ever eat a meal that is predominantly carbohydrates.
2. Don’t drink alcohol. It causes an increase in blood sugar and fat
storage, and it will lead to a sugar crash as well as an increased appetite for carbs. If you choose to have a drink, avoid sugary cocktails,
beer, and wine. Stick to clear alcohols like vodka or rum with caloriefree mixers like diet or club soda, and you can always just do what I do
and drink it all straight.
3. Don’t eat carbohydrates that are high on the glycemic load index.
The next chapter will tell you everything you need to know about the
GLI. For now all you need to know is to stay away from high-GLI
foods. It is important for all metabolic types to watch their high-GLI
intake, but it is especially crucial for you. If you should happen to eat
high-GLI foods, make sure to combine them with a protein in order to
slow down the production and release of blood sugar.
4. Don’t drink too much caffeine. It is true that caffeine can be used as
a fat burner and a performance enhancer when exercising. This is only
effective, however, when the caffeine is taken in pill form in conjunction with aspirin. In the forms of coffee, tea, and soda, caffeine gives
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77
you short-term energy but does so by getting your adrenal glands to
dump adrenaline into your blood like it’s going out of style. As a result, when the caffeine leaves your system, your adrenal glands will be
depleted for a while, which leaves you feeling weak and tired from substandard blood-adrenaline levels. Caffeine also speeds the rate of oxidation, which is the exact opposite of what you want your nutrients to
do. Avoid caffeinated beverages whenever possible and keep your overall caffeine consumption to a minimum.
5. Don’t overcook your meat. Avoid overcooked animal products,
since heat destroys essential amino acids and valuable enzymes.
You will have less physical ailments and feel energized if you eat the foods
that contain the ideal macronutrient ratios for your metabolic type. However,
these foods are all very high in calories. You must remember to keep within
your caloric allowance in order to lose weight.
SLOW OXIDIZERS
In order to best serve your metabolism and feel energized both physically and
mentally, you require foods with a higher percentage of carbohydrates. Your
ideal macronutrient ratio is 60 percent carbs, 25 percent protein, and 15 percent fat.
Proteins
The best proteins for slow oxidizers are low-purine proteins, which are found
in leaner meats. It’s not that you can never have steak again, but high-purine,
high-fat proteins slow down the rate at which you convert nutrients into energy, which is what you’re already doing too slowly, so the less the better. In
general, you want to stick to this list.
Low Purine
white meat chicken, turkey breast, lean pork, catﬁsh,
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cod, ﬂounder, perch, sole, trout, white meat tuna,
swordﬁsh, low-fat cheese, low-fat cottage cheese,
skim milk, low-fat yogurt, egg whites
Carbohydrates
Although your metabolic type is better than the others at processing carbs,
you still have to pick and choose carefully. You want to avoid simple carbs,
which convert into sugar very quickly in the bloodstream, and choose complex carbs instead. Follow this list of ideal carbohydrates when deciding on a
meal or snack.
Vegetables—Low Starch
asparagus, cauliﬂower, celery, mushrooms, spinach,
broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens,
cucumbers, garlic, kale, leafy greens, onions, peppers, scallions, sprouts, tomatoes, watercress
Vegetables—Moderate Starch
beets, eggplant, jicama, okra, yellow squash, zucchini
Fruits
apples, berries, cherries, citrus fruits, peaches, pears,
apricots, plums, tropical fruits, olives
Grains
barley, brown rice, buckwheat, corn, couscous, kasha,
millet, oat, quinoa, rye, spelt
Legumes
tempeh, tofu (eat sparingly as they are high in purines)
beans, peas (should be eaten fresh, never dried)
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Fats
You should be on a low-fat diet to keep your metabolism working smoothly.
This does not mean no fat—fat is still an essential part of any healthy diet. You
should allow 15 percent of your caloric intake to come from fat. You can go
over that percentage if you like, but eating foods that are too high in fat content can make you feel lethargic, anxious, and irritable. Choose from this list
of fats when cooking a meal or having a snack.
Nuts/Seeds
raw and unsalted only—be very sparing
Fats/Oils
vegetable or nut oils such as almond, coconut,
ﬂaxseed, olive, peanut, sunﬂower, walnut
It’s not enough to know the foods that are ideal for you—you also have to
learn which foods are worst for you. If you ﬁnd yourself straying from the list
of suggestions, remind yourself of these guidelines.
1. Don’t eat foods that are fatty or that contain high-purine proteins,
such as organ meats and ﬁsh such as herring and sardines. Limit your
intake of fats and oils, as they will slow down your ability to convert
food into energy even further. Avoid red meat or dark white meats, and
stay away from high-fat dairy, nut butters, and avocados.
2. Don’t drink alcohol. This is less of a concern for you than for fast
oxidizers, but at the end of the day alcohol still increases your blood
sugar and inhibits fat metabolism.
3. Don’t drink too much caffeine. This too is less of a concern for you
than it is for fast oxidizers, but caffeine gives you energy by acting on
your adrenal glands, causing them to over-produce and ﬂood your
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system with adrenaline. When the caffeine’s effect has worn off, your
adrenals are exhausted and you are left with lower-than-normal levels
of adrenaline in your system, which makes you feel tired and sluggish.
4. Don’t exceed one serving per meal of simple or starchy carbs like
potato, pasta, or rice, and always eat them with a lean protein to help
stabilize your blood sugar.
Remember to consume your ideal foods in accordance with your caloric
allowance; otherwise, you will not lose weight.
BALANCED OXIDIZERS
If you are a balanced oxidizer, your diet is the easiest to follow, since you require an equal percentage of carbs, fats, and proteins. You feel at your best on
a diet that incorporates a wide range of foods. Your ideal macronutrient ratio
is 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, and 30 percent fat.
Proteins
You operate best when you are getting 30 percent of your total calories
from protein. Be careful to mix the kinds of protein you eat so that you
consume high-fat and high-purine proteins with low-fat and low-purine
proteins. Choose from this list of proteins when deciding on a meal or
snack.
High Purine
organ meats (pâté, liver, etc.), herring, mussels, sardines, anchovies
Moderate Purine
beef, bacon, dark meat chicken, duck, lamb, spareribs,
dark meat turkey, veal, wild game, salmon, shellﬁsh
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(lobster, shrimp, crab), oysters, scallops, octopus,
squid, dark tuna, eggs, regular-fat cheeses
Low Purine
white meat chicken, turkey breast, lean pork, catﬁsh,
cod, ﬂounder, perch, sole, trout, white tuna, swordﬁsh, low-fat cheese, low-fat cottage cheese, skim
milk, low-fat yogurt, egg whites
Carbohydrates
With regard to carbs, the real signiﬁcant difference between balanced, fast,
and slow oxidizers is not the types of carbs allowed but the quantity. You
should get 40 percent of your nutrients from carbs, but like everyone you
should avoid simple carbs and foods that are rated high on the glycemic load
index, which we get into in the next chapter. Reﬁned sugars like those found
in cookies, sweets, and soda and processed grains like white bread or white
rice should be shunned whenever possible, especially on a weight-loss regimen. You do best with a mix of fruits and vegetables from both the fast and
slow oxidizers’ carb lists.
Vegetables—Low Starch
asparagus, cauliﬂower, celery, mushrooms, spinach,
broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens,
cucumbers, garlic, kale, leafy greens, onions, peppers, scallions, sprouts, tomatoes, watercress
Vegetables—Moderate Starch
beets, eggplant, jicama, okra, yellow squash, zucchini
Fruits
apples, berries, cherries, citrus fruits, peaches, pears,
apricots, plums, tropical fruits
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Grains
barley, brown rice, buckwheat, corn, couscous, kasha,
millet, oat, quinoa, rice, rye, spelt
Legumes/Lentils (all fresh, nothing dried)
tempeh, tofu, beans, peas
Fats
In order to best support your metabolism, you need to be getting roughly 30
percent of your calories from natural oils and fats. Don’t eat excessive
amounts of fat, but don’t speciﬁcally restrict your fat intake. You can choose
from fats on both the fast and slow oxidizers’ lists of permissible fats.
Nuts/Seeds (listed in order of protein content)
walnuts, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, sunﬂower seeds,
sesame seeds, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, ﬁlberts,
pecans, chestnuts, pistachios, coconut, macadamias
Fats/Oils
butter, cream, almond oil, peanut oil, coconut oil,
sesame oil, ﬂaxseed oil, sunﬂower oil, walnut oil
Eat the foods that are ideal for you. Also remember these guidelines of
what not to do.
1. Don’t eat meals made up of just one macronutrient. Make sure you
adhere to your ideal ratio of 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, and
30 percent fat.
2. Don’t drink alcohol. It depletes glycogen storage in the liver, which
causes an increase in blood sugar and fat storage. In addition, you will
most likely experience a sugar crash, which leads to a heightened ap-
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83
petite for carbs and the nutrients you need to metabolize them. If you
do have a drink, choose wisely and avoid sugary cocktails, beer, and
wine. Opt instead for clear alcohols such as vodka or rum with caloriefree mixers, like club soda diet, light fruit juices or diet Snapple. And
there’s always straight or on the rocks as well.
3. Don’t eat foods that are high on the glycemic load index. (Again, see
the next chapter for a full understanding of glycemic load.) If you
should happen to eat high-GLI foods, make sure you accompany
them with protein in order to show down the rate of oxidation and
stabilize blood sugar and energy levels.
4. Don’t drink too much caffeine. Caffeine is only effective as a fat
burner or performance enhancer when taken in pill form and combined with aspirin. In the forms of coffee, tea, or soda, caffeine gives
you short-term energy but does that by signaling to your adrenal
glands to dump all of their store out into your blood. When the caffeine wears off, your adrenal glands are so depleted they have to take a
break, which means that you feel tired and weak.
5. Don’t overcook your meat. Avoid overcooked animal products,
since heat destroys essential amino acids and valuable enzymes.
Now that you have your list of foods that are ideal for your metabolic
type, you will have more energy and feel better if you eat to support your metabolism. However, many of the foods on your list are high in calories. Your
diet should incorporate these types of foods in accordance with your caloric
allowance.
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8
Carbs: The Good,
the Bad, and the
Glycemic Load Index
ow that you have identiﬁed your caloric allowance and the speciﬁc foods
that are best suited for your particular metabolic type, you’re ready for
another major lesson: carbs. Don’t panic—this isn’t a program that demonizes all carbs. There is such a thing as a good carb, and there is room for
good carbs in any wholesome, balanced diet. Once you understand which
carbs you should avoid and why, you will be able to eat healthy and keep losing weight without being driven insane by the low-carb diet hysteria.
The difference between my program’s nutritional recommendations and
those of diets such as Atkins and South Beach is essentially a difference in
carb evaluation. The Atkins and South Beach low-carb diets deﬁne carbs as
good or bad according to the glycemic index, which is an incomplete rating
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85
based on how quickly the carb breaks down and releases glucose into your
blood. Where these diets fall short is in only evaluating quality, not quantity,
of carbs in any given food. I know this sounds confusing, but by only considering the quality of a given food’s carbohydrate content, we do not get the
whole story, and as a result these diets rule out many foods that actually belong in a healthy diet. The carrot is a perfect illustration of how the glycemic
index can give a good food a bad name: the form of carbohydrate in a carrot
turns into blood sugar quickly, which puts it high on the glycemic index and
makes it a no-no for Atkins or South Beach dieters. However, if you step back
to get a fuller picture, the total quantity of carbs in a carrot is low, which
means that even though those carbs are turning into blood sugar quickly,
there are so few that their overall effect on blood sugar is not very dramatic, so
they are okay to eat.
By considering the quantity as well as the quality of carbs in any given
food, you have a much more holistic and useful way of assessing its nutritional value—this more accurate and effective measurement is known as the
glycemic load index (GLI). In this chapter you’ll ﬁnd a detailed glycemic load
index table so that you will be able to make your own more informed, healthier food choices. The index pertains mainly to carbohydrates such as vegetables, fruits, and grains (because proteins and fats do not have much direct
effect on blood sugar), and it is designed to help you ﬁgure out at a glance
which carbs are okay and which you should avoid.
“Bad” carbs are the ones that get broken down in the body very quickly,
triggering insulin release and promoting fat storage. If a food is high in bad
carbs, it ranks high on the GLI, scoring 15 or higher. Bad or simple carbs often come in the form of reﬁned sugars and processed grains; in fact, the reason that they break down so quickly in our bodies is that they have undergone
chemical procedures during factory processing that are similar to the ones in
our digestive system, so they are partially digested when we eat them. Pretty
gross, huh? They are found in packaged foods such as white bread, pasta,
crackers, baked goods, and other foods that are made with white ﬂour and
contain little or no ﬁber.
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As if the sugar crash and fat storage promotion weren’t reasons enough to
stay away from high-GLI foods, the rapid production of insulin has another
adverse effect: When insulin levels in the blood increase, your blood drives
amino acids into your muscles. When the concentration of an amino acid
called tryptophan is increased relative to other amino acids, it is driven across
the blood-brain barrier, where it interacts with a protein in the pleasure receptor area of the brain and stimulates the production of the pleasure hormone serotonin. This is why processed foods can become addictive both
physically and psychologically—once you experience the pleasure effect from
eating an unhealthy processed food, it is tempting to want to repeat the behavior again and again. The bottom line? Stay away from these carbs. They
can sabotage you and will hold you back from achieving your ﬁtness goals.
Good carbs—the ones that score 10 or below on the GLI—take a long time
to digest, creating less of a need for immediate insulin release in the bloodstream and thus helping to stabilize your blood sugar level. They contain important vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are essential for good health.
Our bodies are genetically designed to consume these unreﬁned carbs such as
vegetables and whole grains. They are often referred to as complex carbs due
to their molecular structure.
Carbs that fall between 10 and 15 on the GLI are considered not optimal
but not the worst thing in the world. Remember, these distinctions between
good and bad carbs are important for all metabolic types. Even slow oxidizers
who do best with higher ratios of carbs in their diet should be sure that they
pick carbs from the lower end of the GLI. The following table of sample foods
will help you identify and avoid the carbs that cause rapid blood sugar elevation, change brain chemistry, and trigger cravings. Be aware that you should
not base your diet solely on the glycemic load index. It is important and valuable to be able to consider a food’s GLI score as well as its caloric content, but
there are foods that are low on the GLI and high in fat and calories. Be conscious of your caloric allowance and stick to it. The GLI is just one more helpful tool in maximizing the success of your calorie-controlled, metabolically
personalized weight-loss plan.
Carbs: The Good, the Bad, and the Glycemic Load Index
87
GLYCEMIC LOAD INDEX
88
FOOD
SERVING SIZE
CALORIES
GL
Apple
Apple juice
Apricots
Banana
Barley
Black beans
Carrots
Cashews
Cherries
Corn chips
Corn on the cob
Corn ﬂakes
Corn tortilla
Cream of Wheat
Croissant
French fries
Garbanzo beans
Grapes
Grapefruit
Grapefruit juice
Green vegetables
Ice cream
Ice cream (low fat)
Kidney beans
Kiwi
Lentils
Macaroni and cheese
Mango
Milk (full fat)
Milk (skim)
1 medium
1 cup
4 medium
1 medium
1 cup cooked
1 cup cooked
1 medium
1⁄2 cup
15 cherries
2 ounces
1 medium ear
1 cup
1 medium
1 cup cooked
1 medium
6 ounces
1 cup cooked
40 grapes
1 medium
1 cup
1 cup cooked
1 cup
1 cup
1 cup cooked
1 medium
1 cup cooked
1 cup
1 medium
1 cup
1 cup
75
135
70
90
190
235
30
395
85
350
80
100
70
130
275
515
285
160
75
115
40
360
220
210
45
230
285
110
150
70
6
12
6
12
11
8
3
4
3
21
17
24
12
22
17
25
13
13
5
9
5
10
13
10
6
7
46
14
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Orange
1 medium
65
5
Orange juice
Papaya
1 cup
1 cup cut
110
55
15
9
Peanuts
Pear
12
1 medium
⁄ cup
1 medium
70
330
125
7
1
10
Peach
Peas
1 cup
135
3
Pineapple
Pineapple juice
Pizza
1 cup cut
1 cup
1 large slice
75
130
300
7
15
20
Plums
2 medium
70
4
Popcorn (full-fat)
Potato (baked)
Potato chips
Pretzels
Pumpkin
Raisins
Raisin Bran
Shredded wheat
Soda
Soda crackers
Soybeans
Soy yogurt (full-fat)
Strawberries
Tomato juice
Wafﬂes
Watermelon
White bread
White rice
Whole-grain bread
Yam
Yogurt (full-fat)
2 cups
1 small
2 ounces
1 ounce
1 cup mashed
1⁄2 cup
1 cup
1 cup minisquares
16 ounces
12 crackers
1 cup cooked
1 cup
1 cup
1 cup
1 medium
1 cup cut
1 slice
1 cup cooked
1 slice
1 cup cooked
1 cup
110
220
345
115
85
250
185
110
200
155
300
200
50
40
150
50
80
210
80–120
160
200
16
34
15
33
3
42
29
15
33
18
1
13
1
4
18
7
20
23
14
13
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Carbs: The Good, the Bad, and the Glycemic Load Index
89
9
Good Fats versus
Bad Fats
long with understanding carbohydrates, it is useful to have a basic knowledge of fats. We have long been told fatty foods are high in calories and
can lead to unhealthy levels of cholesterol and heart disease. But fat is
also an integral part of a healthy diet, so it is key to know how to get the right
kinds in the right amounts. Animal and vegetable fats provide valuable, concentrated energy; they also provide the building blocks for cell membranes
and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances. Fats slow down the
absorption of nutrients into your system so that you can go longer without
feeling hungry, and they aid in sugar and insulin metabolism, thus aiding in
weight loss. In addition, they act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins, aid in the absorption of vital minerals, and help facilitate a host of
other important biological operations within the body.
A
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“GOOD FATS”
How do you know which fats are beneﬁcial and which are toxic? Very basically
it all boils down to molecular structure, and how the differently formed fat
molecules affect your body. Let’s start with the good fats: the fats considered
to be healthiest come from plants and vegetables and are known as unsaturated. Unsaturated fat molecules contain at least one pair of carbons linked by
a double-bond. Since hydrogen cannot break this bond and therefore cannot
bond with all of the carbon present, any fat molecule with one or more
double-bonded carbon is considered “unsaturated” by hydrogen.
Of the unsaturated good fats, the healthiest is monounsaturated, so named
for its one pair of double-bonded carbons. This is the kind of fat that can actually lower your “bad” cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease. It
also supplies fatty acids essential for skin health and cellular development,
and is believed to help prevent certain kinds of cancer, including breast and
colon cancers. Excellent sources of monounsaturated fat include olive oil,
canola oil, nuts (raw, never roasted), and avocados.
Another healthful fat from the unsaturated family is known as omega-3
fat, which is a form of polyunsaturated fat, so named for its multiple pairs of
double-bonded carbons. Omega-3 fats are found predominantly in cold-water
ﬁsh such as salmon. They are also found in abundance in ﬂaxseed, walnuts,
and almonds. Like monounsaturated fat, omega-3 improves heart health by
keeping cholesterol levels low, but it can also aid in stabilizing irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) and reducing blood pressure. Omega-3 fatty acids act as natural blood thinners, reducing the “stickiness” of blood cells (or platelet
aggregation), which can lead to blood clots and stroke. In numerous studies
over the years, participants suffering from inﬂammatory diseases such as
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Raynaud’s disease have reported less joint
stiffness, swelling, tenderness, and overall fatigue when taking omega-3s. This
fat may inhibit the production of carcinogens within the body, thus aiding in
cancer prevention and cancer treatment. In addition, your brain, which is 60
percent fat, needs omega-3 to function properly. This wonder fat has even been
shown to improve depression and symptoms of other mental illness.
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Another group of fats that are now accepted as having health beneﬁts are
the saturated fats, which are found in meat, dairy, and other animal products.
Saturated fat molecules are so-called because they are “saturated” with hydrogen, meaning their molecules contain as many hydrogen atoms as is chemically possible. Although they were once considered to be directly linked to
coronary disease, the scientiﬁc evidence that once suggested adverse health effects has been overturned, and these fats are now considered important for
many reasons, including their role in cellular development and hormone production, as well as their transport of many vital fat-soluble vitamins. As
highly concentrated sources of protein and energy, saturated fat also helps
slow down the rate at which you absorb food, therefore letting you go longer
without becoming hungry again.
“BAD” FATS
Whereas the “good” fats are all natural animal or vegetable fats, bad fats are
man-made. Trans-fatty acids or trans-fats as they are known are produced by
the partial hydrogenation of oil. They are present in most processed foods
like chips, margarine, cookies, and even breakfast cereals and protein bars, despite the fact that nothing in our food supply is more dangerous. The adverse
effects of these toxins are still being discovered. They include contributing to
cardiovascular disease by increasing “bad” and lowering “good” cholesterol
levels, raising insulin levels in the blood and possibly leading to diabetes, and
depleting your system of vital nutrients. They are also bad for the brain and
nervous system.
Here’s what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has to say about it:
“By our most conservative estimate, replacement of partially hydrogenated
fat in the U.S. diet with natural unhydrogenated vegetable oils would prevent
approximately 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year, and epidemiological evidence suggests this number is closer to 100,000 premature deaths annually.”
Avoiding trans-fats can be tricky unless you know what to look for, since
they are not currently listed as trans-fats on food labels. (New FDA guidelines
Good Fats versus Bad Fats
93
forcing companies to disclose trans-fat content explicitly take effect in 2006.)
Avoid products that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, or shortening. Processed foods that are commonly made with
trans-fats include some margarines, baked goods, crackers, fried foods, salad
dressings, to name just a few.
Now that you know which fats to avoid and which fats can be incorporated
into a healthy diet, it is important to remember that just because a food is
healthy does not mean it is also dietetic. Foods that are high in fat, good or
bad, are high in calories, period. In order to shed those pounds and improve
your overall health, you must adhere as closely as possible to your caloric allowance as well as to the list of foods recommended for your metabolic type.
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10
Food Labels: How to
Decipher Them
ow that you are empowered by knowing what to look for and what to
avoid, an instrumental part of your success will be correctly reading
food labels. The tips I will give you in this chapter will make it easier
for you to do this so that you can make quick, informed food choices that
contribute to your healthy diet. There are several things to look for on food
labels.
N
CALORIES
First and foremost, you should be looking for the number of calories in any
food you consume. Make sure you look at the serving size and the number of
servings in the package. Calories are always listed per serving, not per container. Read the ﬁne print on a small tub of ice cream, for example, and you’ll
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discover that there are roughly 300 calories per serving and 4 servings per tub,
meaning that this small tub has a total of 1,200 calories. Checking this information can be frustrating and confusing at ﬁrst, but now that you know how
to do it, you will never miscount calories again and can make changes so that
you are in line with your personal calorie intake guidelines. Serving sizes are
standardized and are measured in units we know such as cups or even pieces,
which makes it easier to assimilate the nutritional information so that you
are not squinting at labels for hours on end.
MACRONUTRIENT RATIO
The very next thing you should look for is the macronutrient ratio. You need
to ﬁnd out how many grams each of fat, carbs, and protein are in the food you
are considering and make sure you are sticking to the ratio that is ideal for
your metabolic type. Again it is important to be conscious of serving size and
the number of servings per container, since these variables affect not only the
calorie content but also the quantity of macronutrients you are consuming.
Let’s break down a sample label together.
What follows is a label for a box of macaroni and cheese. In this instance,
the serving size is 1 cup, and there are 4 servings in the box. In 1 serving there
are 320 calories, 160 of which—half—come from those 9 grams of fat. What if
you ate the whole package? Four servings would mean 1280 calories, 640 of
which would come from the total of 36 grams of fat. With almost 50 percent
of its total calories coming from fat, the degree to which this food is damaging
to your healthy diet will depend on your metabolic type. However, even if you
are a fast or balanced oxidizer, and require higher percentages of fat in your
diet, your ideal fat ratio is still only 30 percent, which means that the above
food is high in fat, no matter how you look at it.
Finding the protein and fat contents of your food and measuring them
against your ideal macronutrient ratio is relatively straightforward once you
understand serving sizes. But ﬁguring out a food’s true carbohydrate content gets tricky. It might seem counterintuitive, but don’t take the total
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Boxed Macaroni and Cheese
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 3.5 oz (98g/about 1/4 box)
(Makes about 1 cup)
Servings Per Container about 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 320 Calories from Fat 160
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 9g
Saturated Fat 3g
Trans Fat
Cholesterol 20mg
Sodium 820mg
Total Carbohydrate 46g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Sugars 3g
Protein 12g
Vitamin A 2%
Calcium 10%
•
•
14%
15%
0g
7%
34%
15%
8%
14%
Vitamin C 0%
Iron 10%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000
calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher
or lower depending on your calorie needs:
Calories:
2,000
2,500
Total Fat Less than 65g
80g
Sat Fat
Less than 20g
25g
Cholest
Less than 300mg
300mg
Sodium
Less than 2,400mg
2,400mg
Total Carb
300g
375g
Dietary Fiber
25g
30g
Protein
50g
65g
number of carbs listed on the label at face value—the only thing relevant to
us is the number of “net carbs” or “impact” carbs. The concept of net carbs is
based on the fact that certain carbs affect blood sugar levels and others
don’t. Fiber, considered a “nonimpact carb,” is one that our bodies can’t metabolize, and therefore it has no effect on blood sugar levels. Nonimpact
carbs are thus subtracted from the total number of carbs so that you are only
counting net. Let’s look at a food label from a bag of whole-grain bread to illustrate this point.
Food Labels: How to Decipher Them
97
Whole-Grain Bread
Nutrition
Facts
Serving Size 1 slice (34g)
Servings Per Container 20
Calories 80
Calories from Fat 5
Calories from Saturated Fat 0
*Percent Daily Values are based on a
*2,000 calorie diet.
Amount/serving
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0.5g
Saturated Fat 0g
0%
Sodium 80mg
3%
Potassium 75mg
2%
•
•
•
Vitamin C 0%
Riboﬂavin 2%
Magnesium 6%
% Daily Value*
Total Carbohydrate 14g
1%
Cholesterol 0mg
Vitamin A 0%
Thiamine 8%
Phosphorous 8%
Amount/serving
1%
Dietary Fiber 3g
5%
10%
Sugars 0g
Protein 4g
•
•
•
Calcium 0%
Niacin 6%
Zinc 4%
8%
•
•
•
Iron 4%
Vitamin B6 4%
As you can see, the total carb content is 14 grams, and the ﬁber content
is 3 grams. After you subtract ﬁber from the total carb content, you are left
with 11 grams of net carbs, which are the only carbs that matter for our purposes.
Many low-carb diets such as Atkins will tell you that sugar alcohols and
other such carbohydrates are also nonimpact carbs, but this is confusing. The
misleadingly named “sugar alcohol,” also known as polyol, is neither a sugar
nor an alcohol but a man-made chemical compound with a molecular structure similar to that of sugars and alcohols. Food companies use it because it
sweetens like sugar but is not counted as sugar according to FDA (Food and
Drug Administration) guidelines.
Consequently, food companies can claim their product to be low in or free
of sugar. Some companies even go so far as to subtract the sugar alcohol content from the carb count on the label, reasoning that it has a negligible effect
on blood sugar levels when in fact this is not the case at all. Glycemic load values for the most commonly used sugar alcohols are certainly lower than for
real sugars, but they are still signiﬁcant and they do affect your blood sugar
levels. As an example, take maltitol, a commonly used sugar alcohol with a
glycemic value of 53, and compare it with corn syrup, a natural sugar derived
from corn, with a glycemic value of between 85 and 92. Sure, maltitol’s
glycemic value is lower than the natural sugar, but it is still not low by any
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means. Bottom line: Sugar alcohols are impact carbs, and your body will use
them as fuel or store them as fat, so you’d best include them in your net carb
count. This can get tricky. Take a look at the example below.
Protein Bar
Nutrition
Facts
Serving Size 1 bar (50g)
Calories 170
Calories from fat 70
*Percent Daily Values are based on a
*2,000 calorie diet.
Amount/Serving
%DV
Amount/Serving
Total Fat 7g
11%
Total Carbs. 19g
Sat. Fat 2.5g
13%
Trans Fat 0g
Dietary Fiber 8g
%DV
6%
32%
Sugars 1g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 240mg
10%
Sugar Alcohols 8g
Protein 14g
Vitamin A 35% • Vitamin C 100% • Calcium 50% • Iron 40% • Vitamin E 100% • Thiamine 100% • Riboﬂavin 100%
Niacin 100% • Vitamin B6 100% • Folic Acid 100% • Vitamin B12 100% • Biotin 100% • Pantothenic Acid 100%
Phosphorous 25% • Magnesium 40% • Zinc 40%
The label of this popular “low-carb” protein bar claims it contains a mere
2 grams of net carbohydrates. But look a little closer: the back label lists a total of 19 grams of carbs, which, if you look closer still, breaks down as follows: 8 grams of ﬁber, 8 grams of sugar alcohols, and 1 gram of sugar. But
the sugar alcohol used in many of these products is maltitol, which you now
know is in fact an impact carb. The only carbs in this product that will not
actually affect your blood sugar levels are the 8 grams of ﬁber. So the true net
carb count for this product is actually 11 grams, which is just under the net
carb content of one slice of white bread, and certainly not as low as the packaging promises.
One more thing about sugar alcohols: they often produce a laxative effect. There are two reasons for this. First, they are not entirely absorbed
into the body and tend to hold on to a lot of water in the bowel, which
causes diarrhea. Second, when undigested carbs reach the colon, the normally present bacteria go wild with activity, which results in unpleasant
bloating and gas.
Food Labels: How to Decipher Them
99
FOOD LABEL TIPS
Here are some points to clarify common misconceptions about food labels.
1. Sugar-free does not mean carb-free. Compare the total carbohydrate
content of a sugar-free food with that of a standard product. If there is
a big difference in the carb content of the two foods, you may want to
buy the sugar-free food. If there is little difference in the carb content
of the two foods, choose according to taste and/or price.
2. “No-sugar-added” foods do not have any form of sugar added during processing or packaging and do not contain high-sugar ingredients, but they are not sugar-free. Check the label carefully. These foods
may still be high in carbs.
3. Fat-free foods can be higher in carbs than their regular-fat counterparts and may have almost as many calories. Fat-free cookies are a perfect example. Fat-free is not necessarily a better choice. Read your
labels carefully.
4. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. I had a client who one
day mentioned that she used about a can of I Can’t Believe It’s Not
Butter spray daily. When I proceeded to have a mild coronary, she was
completely puzzled, because, as she protested, the packaging claims
the product has 0 calories and 0 fat. Remember our little chat about
serving sizes? It is true that per serving the product contains no calories and no fat, but the serving size indicated on the side of the can is
“1 spray.” The truth is that each serving could have as much as a ninth
of a calorie or a ninth of a gram of fat, and the manufacturers would
still be able to claim a 0 content. Per serving this seems like nothing,
but who uses just 1 spray? All in all, the can actually contains 900 calories and 90 grams of fat! Yup, marketing people can be devious, so
read the label. The ingredients list for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
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spray includes several different oils, which is your tip-off that the 0
calorie–0 fat claim is totally false. Be cautious and keep yourself informed.
5. Ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance. If
something is at the very end of the list, there is not very much of it in
the food in question.
Along with having some basic label-reading skills, it’s important to have
some familiarity with all the terms and phrases that are assigned by the FDA
and branded all over food packaging. Want to know the difference between
“low fat” and “less fat,” between “low sodium” and “very low sodium”? Allow
me to shine a little light for you.
FDA SPECIFICATIONS FOR HEALTH
CLAIMS AND DESCRIPTIVE TERMS
CLAIM
REQUIREMENT THAT MUST BE MET
Fat-free
Less than 0.5 g fat per serving, with no added fat or
oil.
Low fat
3 g fat or less per serving.
Less fat
25% less fat than the regular-fat product.
Saturated fat-free
Less than 0.5 g saturated fat and 0.5 g trans-fatty
acids per serving.
Cholesterol-free
Less than 2 mg cholesterol per serving and 2 g or less
saturated fat per serving.
Low cholesterol
20 mg or less cholesterol per serving and 2 g or less
saturated fat per serving.
Reduced calorie
At least 25% less calories per serving than the regularcalorie product.
Low calorie
40 calories or less per serving.
Food Labels: How to Decipher Them
101
FDA SPECIFICATIONS FOR HEALTH
CLAIMS AND DESCRIPTIVE TERMS
CLAIM
REQUIREMENT THAT MUST BE MET
Extra lean
Less than 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, and 95 mg
cholesterol per 100 g serving of meat, poultry, or
seafood.
Lean
Less than 10 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, and 95 mg
cholesterol per 100 g serving of meat, poultry, or
seafood.
50% or less of the fat than in the regular-fat food.
One-third fewer calories than the regular-calorie food.
5 g or more ﬁber per serving.
Light (fat)
Light (calories)
High-ﬁber
Sugar-free
Sodium-free,
or salt-free
Low sodium
Very low sodium
Healthy
“High,” “Rich in,”
or
“Excellent Source”
“Less,” “Fewer,”
or “Reduced”
“Low,” “Little,”
“Few,” or
“Low source of ”
“Good source of,”
“More,” or
“Added”
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Less than 0.5 g sugar per serving.
Less than 5 mg sodium per serving.
140 mg or less per serving.
35 mg or less per serving.
Low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium,
and contains at least 10% of the recommended daily
values for vitamins A, C, iron, calcium, protein, or
ﬁber per serving.
20% or more of the recommended daily values for a
given nutrient per serving.
At least 25% less calories or other nutrient per serving
than the regular food.
An amount so insigniﬁcant that it allows frequent
consumption of the food without exceeding the
recommended daily values. This claim can only be
made if it applies to all similar foods on the market.
Provides 10% more of the recommended daily value of
any given nutrient than the comparison food.
11
Tips and Recipes
for Cooking Healthy
at Home
t’s time to bring it all back home: Now that you know how to make healthy
decisions at the supermarket, it’s time to implement a few new habits in the
kitchen. This will be simple, and don’t worry, I won’t have you eating cardboard or rabbit food. By following a few general rules, and making a few
changes to your culinary routine, you’ll ﬁnd that you can lighten up most of
the recipes you enjoy. Here is a list of tips and suggestions you can refer to
(and refer to often) while cooking at home:
I
◆ Substitute Stevia or Splenda for sugar wherever possible. You can
also use applesauce to sweeten cakes if you are baking.
103
◆ Use vanilla whey protein powder to replace the bulk of processed
white ﬂour in sweet baked goods. You can also try a 50-50 mix of
protein powder and nut meal.
◆ Use nonstick cookware so that you can cut down on oils and butters and brown your foods using less fat. If you need oil, use it
sparingly to cut down on calories. Try cooking sprays like Pam or
apply oil with a pastry brush so that you have as light a coating of
fat on your food as possible.
◆ Replace fat-laden heavy cream or half and half with whipped evaporated skim milk. For best results, pour the canned evaporated
skim milk into a metal mixing bowl. Place the mixing bowl along
with your electric mixer’s beater attachments in the freezer for
about 30 minutes, or until ice crystals form around the edges. Remove the bowl and the beaters from the freezer; whip on high
speed until soft peaks begin to form. Use at once.
◆ Use spices and lemon to ﬂavor foods rather than fattening sauces
or heavy, sugary marinades.
◆ Choose low-fat, low-cal, low-sugar, or low-carb versions of a food if
they exist. Get low-fat dairy products like skim milk, low-fat
cheese, and sour cream. Rethink all of your favorite condiments.
Try out some low-cal, low-fat salad dressings until you ﬁnd one
you really like. Switch to fat-free mayonnaise and light variations
of gravies and sauces. There are a wide range of low-carb condiments on the market including ketchups and barbecue and steak
sauces. When you’re cooking meat, choose the leaner cuts. Remove
skin from chicken, but not until after cooking, so the meat will retain some of its moisture.
◆ Steam, bake, grill, braise, boil, or microwave your foods instead of
frying them.
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◆ When combined with water, bouillon cubes are a great low-cal way
of adding robust ﬂavor to most recipes that call for beef, chicken,
or vegetable stock. You can also add bouillon cubes and water to
stir-fries—they enhance the ﬂavor and reduce the amount of fat
needed to cook.
◆ Try using different vegetables as starch replacements. Spaghetti
squash is great for replacing pasta, strips of zucchini or yellow
squash can be cut with a shredder or vegetable peeler to replace
lasagna noodles, and you can purée cauliﬂower as a stand-in for
mashed potatoes. Be creative—the possibilities here are endless.
◆ When browning vegetables, put them in a hot pan, then spray with
oil, rather than adding oil to the pan ﬁrst. This reduces the
amount of oil the vegetable can absorb during cooking.
You can use the above suggestions to transform recipes into healthier versions of old standby favorites, but you can also use them to come up with new
dishes of your own. Be creative, think outside of the box, and you’ll be astonished at how well you will be able to eat while still staying totally healthy. Just
so you know I’m not lying to you, and so you can get your imagination going,
I’ve included my favorite healthy—and delicious!—recipes for breakfast (onthe-go style and traditional sit-down), lunch, dinner, dessert, and snacks.
Many of these won me major points with my team members on The Biggest
Loser. But you needn’t take our word for it, try them and see for yourself!
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Breakfast
◆ French Toast
Serves 6; 100 calories per serving
1 egg white
1 cup half and half
1 tablespoon Splenda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon orange or lemon extract
3 or 4 drops vanilla extract
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
6 slices thick sprouted-grain bread
nonstick cooking spray
cinnamon and Splenda
In a wide bowl, beat the egg white with the half and half. Add Splenda, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange or lemon extract, vanilla extract, and salt. Dip each slice
of bread in the mixture for a minute. Spray skillet with nonstick cooking
spray and heat on medium. Cook french toast on both sides until brown.
Dust with cinnamon and Splenda one last time and serve.
◆ Breakfast Burrito
Serves 4; 150 calories per serving
5 slices turkey bacon (nitrate-free)
nonstick cooking spray
6 egg whites, beaten
1 small tomato, cored, seeded, and chopped
1⁄2 cup low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
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4 six-inch low-carb tortillas
2 cups salsa for garnish
Place the bacon between two paper towels on a paper plate. Microwave on
high 4–5 minutes, just until the bacon is crisp. Break into pieces. Spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat on medium. Scramble the egg
whites in skillet until almost done. Add the tomato and bacon. Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute. Heat the tortillas for 10 seconds in the microwave, or you
can warm them in a pan for a minute or two.
Spoon the egg scramble equally into center of tortillas. Sprinkle low-fat
cheese on top. Fold burrito style. Serve immediately with salsa to taste.
◆ Asparagus Frittata
Serves 4; 100 calories per serving
⁄ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
⁄ cup thinly sliced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
12 cooked asparagus stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
1⁄2 medium tomato, seeded and diced
11⁄2 cups liquid egg whites
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
1⁄2 cup freshly grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
nonstick cooking spray
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Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a nonstick, ovenproof frying pan. Add
the onion, garlic, and thyme. Sauté until the onion is soft but not brown. Add
the asparagus and cook for a minute longer. Add half of the tomato and stir a
few times. Remove the vegetables and wipe out the pan.
Turn on the broiler. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, salt, pepper,
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and cheese together. Spray the same frying pan with nonstick cooking spray
and heat on medium. Pour in the eggs and scatter the vegetables on top of the
eggs. Turn the heat to low and cook 5–8 minutes until the frittata is golden
brown on the bottom. Place the frittata under the broiler and cook until ﬁrm,
about 5 minutes. Slide onto a plate and garnish with the remaining chopped
tomato.
Frittatas make a nice, easy breakfast or handheld snack. They are adaptable too—you can add a spoonful of pesto or a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.
◆ Famous Red Team Puffs
Serves 1; 200 calories per serving
nonstick cooking spray
1⁄3 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon Splenda
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
2 large strawberries, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons low-fat cream cheese, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an individual tart pan lightly with nonstick cooking spray. To make the puff, blend the cottage cheese with the egg
whites and Splenda, in a mixing bowl. Pour into the tart pan. Bake for 20–25
minutes. Remove the puff from the tart pan. Lightly grease a skillet with butter and heat on medium. Cook the puff with the sliced strawberries and
chopped nuts until crisp. Drizzle melted cream cheese over the puff and
strawberries and serve immediately.
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Lunch
◆ Broccoli and Cheese Crustless Quiche
Serves 6; 150 calories per serving
nonstick cooking spray
12 egg whites, beaten
1 cup light sour cream
8 ounces shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese
10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, drained, and
pressed dry
1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl,
combine the egg whites, sour cream, cheese, broccoli, and pepper, then add to
the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 4 hours.
◆ Albacore Tuna Melt
Serves 4; 125 calories per serving
⁄ cup fat-free mayonnaise
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped basil leaves
8 cloves roasted garlic, coarsely chopped
2⁄3 cup grated Asiago cheese
4 6-ounce pieces albacore tuna
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 ripe tomato, seeded and ﬁnely diced
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In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, basil, garlic, and Asiago
cheese together. Season the tuna on both sides with the olive oil, salt, and
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pepper. Heat a heavy frying pan on high until almost smoking. Add the tuna
in a single layer and sear until lightly brown on one side. Turn with a spatula
and sear the other side, about 2 minutes each side. The tuna should remain
rare. Preheat the broiler. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over each piece of
tuna. Broil 4 inches from the heat until the cheese bubbles. Sprinkle with the
tomato and serve immediately.
◆ Cauliflower and Goat’s Cheese Purée (Faux Mashed Potatoes)
Serves 4; 75 calories per serving
1⁄2 large head cauliﬂower, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces
salt to taste
2 tablespoons fat-free whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons freshly grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons reduced-fat goat’s cheese
Cook the cauliﬂower over medium heat in a large pot of lightly salted water
until completely tender, 20–30 minutes. Drain the cauliﬂower into a colander.
With a bowl or small plate, press on the cauliﬂower to remove all the water.
Toss the cauliﬂower and continue pressing. This step is very important to the
texture of the dish. Transfer the cauliﬂower to a food processor. Add the
whipping cream and purée until completely smooth. If you like a chunkier
texture, mash by hand, adding the cream after the cauliﬂower is mashed. Return to the pot, heat on low heat, and stir constantly. Add the butter, Parmesan, and goat’s cheese. Stir until blended and season with salt if necessary.
Serve immediately.
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◆ Feta and Olive Meatballs
Serves 4; 200 calories per serving
⁄ cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons ﬁnely chopped onion
1 pound lean ground lamb or beef
1⁄2 cup extra-nonfat crumbled feta cheese
1⁄3 cup pitted green olives, coarsely chopped
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons Tabil Spice Mixture (see below)
or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
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Preheat the broiler.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients with your hands and
shape into 16 meatballs about the size of a silver dollar. Place the meatballs
about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet and broil about 3 inches away from
the heat until browned on top, about 5 minutes. Turn over and broil on the
other side for about 5 minutes. You don’t really need any salt in this recipe,
as the feta and olives provide enough. Try the spice mixture. It tastes great in
the meatballs. If you like, you can purchase low-carb tomato sauce to put
over the meatballs.
◆ Tabil Spice Mixture
11⁄2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1⁄4 cup coriander seeds
2 dried red chilies
Roast the spices in a dry nonstick frying pan over medium heat until fragrant,
about 2 minutes. Cool and ﬁnely grind in a spice mill.
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Dinner
◆ Mexican Lasagna
Serves 12; 200 calories per serving
11⁄2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
1.25-ounce package taco seasoning mix
15 ounces low-fat ricotta cheese
1⁄4 cup low-fat sour cream
27 ounces canned whole green chilies (drain and reserve
2 tablespoons canned juice)
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
4 six-inch, low-carb tortillas
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season the meat with a little salt and pepper. In
a skillet over medium heat, break up the meat with a wooden spoon, and cook
until browned. Drain off the grease. Stir in the taco seasoning mix and
enough water to make a paste. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the ricotta
cheese, sour cream, reserved chili juice, Tabasco, and 1⁄2 cup water. Spread a little of the mixture to cover the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Cover the
sauce with a layer of tortillas, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle the meat mixture
evenly over the entire base. Cover with a single layer of whole green chilies and
pour the remaining sauce on top. Bake 45–60 minutes. Remove from the oven
and allow to stand 5 minutes before serving.
◆ Texas Chili
Serves 6; 300 calories per serving
3 pounds chuck beef stew meat, fat trimmed, cubed
1 tablespoon minced garlic
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⁄ cup chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper ﬂakes
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
2 cubes beef bouillon
1 teaspoon black pepper
141⁄2-ounce can fat-free beef broth
1⁄2 medium onion, ﬁnely chopped
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Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on low 8
hours. Stir chili well before serving. Sprinkle low-fat Cheddar cheese on top if
desired.
◆ Crawfish Quesadillas
Serves 6; 200 calories per serving
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound crawﬁsh meat without shells, drained
salt and pepper to taste
6 six-inch low-carb tortillas
2 cups shredded low-fat Cheddar and Jack cheese mix
6 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
2 medium tomatoes, diced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion and pepper in 1 teaspoon
of olive oil until tender. Add the crawﬁsh and cook 5 minutes. Add salt and
pepper. Spread crawﬁsh mixture evenly across 3 of the tortillas. Sprinkle the
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cheese mixture evenly on top of the crawﬁsh mixture and top each with another tortilla. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Cut into four pieces and garnish
with the sour cream and tomatoes.
◆ Veggie Pasta
Serves 4; 150 calories per serving
2 pounds spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
3 tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1⁄2 red pepper, diced
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
1⁄2 cup freshly grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
Place the spaghetti squash halves, cut sides down, in a glass baking dish. Add
1⁄4 cup water and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high 10 minutes until
tender. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the
onion and cook over medium heat 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and yellow
squash and cook 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and red pepper. Reduce
heat and let simmer 10 more minutes. Using a fork, scrape the spaghetti
squash strands into a bowl. Toss with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
Spoon the spaghetti squash into the center of 4 pasta bowls. Pour the vegetable mixture over the top. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish
with low-fat Parmesan cheese as desired.
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◆ Veggie Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage
Serves 2; 492 calories per serving
2 small zucchini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 garlic clove, diced
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1⁄2 pound cooked Italian chicken sausage, sliced into small pieces
1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan, to taste
Using a vegetable peeler and turning as you go, slice zucchini into ribbons. In
a skillet, over medium heat, sauté zucchini in 1 tablespoon of oil until soft
and edges are clear. Add salt and pepper to taste. Over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in another pan, and add garlic. Sauté for a minute, and then
add the tomatoes and oregano. Simmer for a few minutes, and then stir in the
sausage. Spoon sauce over zucchini. Sprinkle with Parmesan to taste.
◆ Chicken Parmesan
Serves 2; 500 calories per serving
⁄ cup crushed pork rinds
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon grated low-fat Parmesan
3 egg whites
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup tomato sauce (sugar-free marinara sauce)
2 cups shredded low-fat mozzarella
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a shallow bowl, mix rinds with spices and Parmesan. In another bowl,
beat egg whites. Dip each chicken breast in egg white, then roll each breast in
the rind mixture. Lay breasts in a baking dish coated with nonstick cooking
spray. Bake 35 minutes. Add about 1⁄4 cup tomato sauce over each breast and
sprinkle each with about 1⁄2 cup mozzarella. Return the dish to the oven and
bake an additional 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
◆ Spinach Casserole
Serves 12; 80 calories per serving
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen spinach
7 cups fat-free cottage cheese
4 egg whites
1 pack (8 ounces) of reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon onion ﬂakes
1⁄2 cup grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Defrost and drain spinach. In a bowl, mix spinach with cottage cheese, egg
whites, and feta. Add onion ﬂakes to taste. Pour mixture into a 16 by 12-inch
baking dish and sprinkle top with Parmesan. Cook for 45 minutes, until
golden brown on top.
◆ Crab Stuffed Zucchini
Serves 2; 230 calories per serving
2 medium zucchini
61⁄2-ounce can crabmeat, drained
1 ounce nonfat cream cheese, softened
1⁄4 cup chopped onion
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⁄ medium tomato, seeded and chopped
⁄ teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise
dash liquid smoke
1 cup shredded low-fat mozzarella
nonstick cooking spray
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Discard ends of zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. Microwave for 3 minutes. Scoop out pulp, leaving zucchini shells. Chop pulp and mix with remaining ingredients; use only 1⁄2 cup mozzarella. Place zucchini shells in a
baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray and ﬁll each with crabmeat
mixture (it will overﬂow the shells). Top with rest of mozzarella and bake 20
to 30 minutes, until mozzarella is lightly browned.
◆ BBQ Pork Tenderloin
Serves 2; 230 calories per serving
1 cup tomato sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
3 packets Splenda
3⁄4 pound pork tenderloin
salt and pepper, to taste
Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
In a small saucepan, combine tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar,
liquid smoke, and Splenda, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. As sauce
cooks, cut the pork in 3⁄4" slices and pound until thin. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Heat oil in a skillet. Sauté pork in oil a few minTips and Recipes for Cooking Healthy at Home
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utes until nicely browned. Remove pork from pan, and pour sauce over the
top of the tenderloin.
Dessert
◆ Crustless Cheesecake
Serves 12; 100 calories per serving
nonstick cooking spray
24 ounces low-fat cream cheese
1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1⁄2 cup low-fat sour cream
11⁄2 cups Splenda
1⁄4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
5 egg whites
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a springform pan with nonstick vegetable
oil cooking spray. In a shallow roasting pan big enough to ﬁt the cake pan,
pour in about 1 inch water and place on the center oven rack to preheat. In a
large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, and Splenda
just until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream, vanilla, lemon juice,
and egg whites until blended. Blend the egg mixture into the cream cheese
mixture. Pour the batter into the greased springform pan. Place the pan into
the heated water bath. Bake 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 275 degrees. Continue baking 11⁄2 hours. Turn the oven off when done and leave the
cake in the oven to cool 3 more hours. Remove the cake and refrigerate before serving.
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◆ Apple Sour Cream Pie
Serves 8; 150 calories per serving
For the Meringue Crust
2 eggs whites
1⁄4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup Splenda
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites,
cream of tartar, and salt until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla, and slowly
beat in the Splenda until very stiff and glossy. Spread the mixture into a 10inch pie plate to form a shell. Bake 50 minutes. Turn the oven off, and leave
the meringue crust in the oven 1 hour so it cools slowly.
For the Filling
4 egg whites or 1⁄2 cup egg substitute
1⁄3 cup Splenda
2 tablespoons ﬂour
1⁄8 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
11⁄2 pounds tart apples such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and sliced
very thin
1⁄8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
butter-ﬂavored cooking spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, blend the egg whites
or egg substitute, Splenda, ﬂour, salt, sour cream, and lemon juice. Gently fold
in the sliced apples. Pour into the meringue crust pie pan. Sprinkle with the
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nutmeg and coat with the entire pie with the cooking spray. Bake 40 minutes
or until the top is browned and set. Chill before serving.
◆ Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies, 80 calories per cookie
⁄ cup (1 stick) butter
⁄ cup Splenda
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup vanilla whey protein powder
3 tablespoons unsweetened Hershey’s Cocoa
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons skim milk
1⁄4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter and
Splenda until well blended. Add the egg whites and vanilla extract; beat well.
In a separate bowl, stir together the protein powder, cocoa, baking soda, and
salt. Add slowly to the butter mixture, pouring milk in simultaneously and
beating until well blended. Stir in the chocolate minichips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 7–9 minutes or just until set.
Remove from baking sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
◆ Tiramisu
Serves 10; 150 calories per serving
For the Cake
nonstick cooking spray
4 ounces ground almonds
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1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs
1⁄2 cup Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 15 by 10 by 1-inch pan with nonstick
cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper and spray again with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the almonds, baking
powder, and salt. Separate the eggs. In another medium mixing bowl, beat the
egg yolks and Splenda with an electric mixer until thick and lemon colored,
3–4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Fold in the almond mixture. In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to ﬁrm peaks. Stir one quarter of the egg whites
into the almond mixture. Fold in two thirds of the remaining egg whites until barely combined, then the remaining egg whites until thoroughly combined. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake 20–25 minutes until the top
springs back when pressed lightly. Let cool.
For the Filling:
5 eggs
5 tablespoons Splenda
2 8-ounce containers mascarpone
1⁄2 cup strong coffee
3 tablespoons rum
1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa
Separate the eggs. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with the
Splenda until thick and lemon colored. Add the mascarpone and beat it into
the yolk mixture on low speed, scraping down the bowl. Do not overbeat or
the mixture will curdle. In another medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites
to soft peaks. Stir one quarter of the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture.
Fold in the remaining three quarters. Choose a large straight-sided dish such
as a soufﬂé dish for assembling the tiramisu. Cut the almond cake into 16 ﬁnTips and Recipes for Cooking Healthy at Home
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gers by cutting in half crosswise, then lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into
8 ﬁngers. Combine the rum and coffee in a shallow dish. Place the cocoa in a
sieve over a bowl. Sprinkle the bottom of the dish lightly with cocoa. Quickly
dip a few of the ﬁngers into the coffee mixture and line the bottom of the
dish. Do not get them too wet or your tiramisu will be runny. Spread on one
quarter of the mascarpone mixture and dust the top with cocoa. Repeat the
process until you have 3 or 4 layers. End with a sprinkling of cocoa. Cover and
refrigerate overnight.
Snacks
◆ Cream Cheese Rollups
Serves 1; 80 calories per serving
2 tablespoons low-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon Splenda
1 six-inch low-carb tortilla
In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the cream cheese, cinnamon,
and Splenda. Spread on the tortilla. Roll up and enjoy.
◆ Smokey Buffalo Jerky
Makes 35 pieces; 30 calories per piece
11⁄2 pounds pound buffalo tip roast
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1⁄4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
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1 teaspoon onion powder
1⁄4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Slice the meat into quarter-inch strips. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the rest
of the ingredients together and place in a zip-lock bag with the meat. Marinate for several hours at room temperature. Place on a clean oven rack with a
baking sheet on a lower rack to catch drips. Do not overlap the meat strips.
Heat oven to 125 degrees and cook 8 hours with the oven door slightly open.
Check frequently so that meat doesn’t get overdry.
◆ Spicy and Cheesy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
M a k e s 2 c u p s ; 1 5 0 c a l o r i e s p e r 1⁄2 c u p
1 tablespoon egg white
1⁄8 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1⁄4 cup very ﬁnely and freshly grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
2 cups raw, hulled pumpkin seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg white with a
whisk until soft and foamy. Except for the pumpkin seeds, add the rest of the
ingredients and combine thoroughly. Spread the pumpkin seeds in an even
layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Coat with the egg white mixture.
Bake 13–15 minutes until the pumpkin seeds pop. Let them cool completely
and store in a covered container.
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12
Eating Out
s well as keeping it healthy on the homefront, it’s important to know how
to keep up your good work when you are out to eat. Many of my clients
tell me that they have enormous trouble keeping to a healthy, nutritious
diet when they go to a restaurant. I’m telling you right now—eating out is no
excuse to fall off the wagon. And I don’t want to hear that eating healthy
when eating out is too expensive either—you could take me to any chain
restaurant and I would still be able to stick to my diet. You can go about your
normal life and still stay on track. The key to success is implementing a few
new habits to arm yourself against temptation and make you sabotage-proof
in any situation.
A
DINING ADVICE
1. Know your enemies and try to avoid them. It goes without saying
that you should try and pick the healthiest restaurant possible, but if
this isn’t an option, identify ahead of time what things at the restaurant could throw you off your diet. Eliminate or address them in ad-
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vance. If there is a restaurant that has a certain unhealthy food you
know you can’t resist, like the best french fries in town, pick another
place. There’s always another restaurant. If you can’t go healthy, go for
variety so that if your kids are hell-bent on pizza, you might still be
able to get salad, chicken, or ﬁsh.
2. Practice your environment control. Remember, willpower is way
overrated, and you cannot eat what isn’t there. If you are eating at a
place that serves bread or chips on the table, ask the server not to
bring them.
3. Get support. If you are with friends and they want the nachos
supreme, recruit them to help you out. This goes back to chapter 3 on
building your support system. Make your friends aware that you are
watching what you eat, and ask them to help you resist. Have them
keep the chips away from you, on the other side of the table, and tell
them not to let you have any, no matter what.
4. Ask you server questions and educate yourself about the food so
that you can make healthy choices. How is the food cooked, what’s
used in the preparation, what comes on the side—these are all things
you want to know now that you are eating right.
5. Make substitutions. I’m always ordering the chicken fajita, but instead of the Mexican rice and refried beans, I ask for a salad on the
side. Ask for grilled vegetables instead of a baked potato or french
fries. Switch the hash browns for sliced tomatoes. You get the idea—
this stuff will take a little extra thought at ﬁrst, but in no time it’ll be
second nature.
6. Make modiﬁcations. If you have scoured the menu and there are no
healthy options, you can usually create your own by requesting a few
modiﬁcations to the preparation of your food. Ask if you can have
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your ﬁsh grilled instead of breaded; ask if you can have Dijon mustard
sauce on the chicken instead of cream sauce; ask for the salad dressing
on the side; get your omelet with egg whites; ask for the chef to use a
small amount of olive oil.
7. Always hold the condiments or have them on the side. A healthy
chicken salad that would be 300 calories can quickly double if a fatty
dressing is added to it. A burger can have up to 200 calories just from
the ketchup you eat with it. Ask for your turkey sandwich with mustard instead of mayo. And here’s another trick: bring your own condiments with you so that you are never stuck with what’s available. I
always bring my own low-calorie salad dressing when I go out to dinner. I’ve even gone so far as to bring my own low-calorie sugar-free barbecue sauce to a restaurant. If I do it, so can you!
8. Watch your portions. The portions we get in restaurants are for the
most part completely out of control. Remember the ways to measure
foods using your hand? Use them to make rough assessments. Make
sure you don’t go overboard just because there’s more food on your
plate than you need. Share an entrée with a friend, or ask the server to
put half your meal in a doggy bag before he even brings it to the table
so that you can save it for lunch the next day.
9. Fill up on ﬁber. Eat as many veggies and as much salad as you can
(as long as the dressing is on the side!), because this will make you
feel more full and keep you from overeating other, more fattening
foods.
10. Don’t feel guilty for leaving food on your plate. Stop eating if you
are full. Ask the server to take away your plate. If you have to get extreme, you can even destroy the food by dumping salt all over it—get
creative about empowering yourself to beat temptation before it
beats you.
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11. Be social. There are exceptions, of course, but in general dining out
should be a pleasurable experience that revolves around more than
just food. Sit back, relax, enjoy the company, eat slowly, and savor the
whole experience.
THE BEST RESTAURANT OPTIONS
Let’s get a little more speciﬁc. Here is a guide for the healthiest options at different kinds of restaurants so that you can stay on target.
Mexican
Chicken, beef, or shrimp fajitas with black beans or salad on the side instead
of rice; carne asada (steak with onions and peppers); shrimp diablo (this is
grilled with garlic butter—ask them to go easy on that); grilled ﬁsh tacos (with
one corn tortilla rather than two); taco and tostada salads with chicken, beef,
or shrimp for protein (don’t eat the taco bowl). Get everything à la carte.
Don’t get the rice and only eat the beans if they are not refried.
Chinese
Any dish that isn’t breaded and deep-fried. Avoid rice and noodles. Try and
steer clear of sugar sauces like sweet and sour. Opt for kung pao chicken (light
on the peanuts), beef and broccoli dishes, shrimp and snow peas, garlic
chicken, Mongolian beef steak, or dishes that have meat and a vegetable. Ask
for the chef to go easy on the oil.
Thai
Any of the satay dishes (chicken, shrimp, beef, or tofu), any protein or vegetable stir-fry, steamed ﬁsh, chicken or beef lettuce rolls. Avoid fatty coconut
milk curries, noodles, and rice.
American
Hamburgers (without bread or on a whole-grain bun), turkey dogs, meat
chili, veggie soups, kosher turkey bacon, white meat turkey burgers, white
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meat chicken, egg whites. Eat the toppings off your pizza, but don’t eat the
dough.
Indian
Chicken, lamb, beef, or shrimp tikka (grilled marinated meat skewers); any of
the veggie dishes such as bhagan bharta (whipped eggplant), saag paneer
(spinach with cheese), aloo gobi (marinated steamed cauliﬂower), vegetable
jalfrezi (mixed vegetables). Avoid curries, rice, and naan bread.
Sushi
Stick to sashimi. Order your favorite rolls as hand rolls with no rice. You can
do this with almost any roll.
Italian
Any chicken or ﬁsh dish, beef carpaccio, any salad (always with the dressing
on the side). Avoid heavy, creamy, and sugary sauces, and don’t get pasta.
French
Any steak, chicken, or ﬁsh dish; any salad (always with the dressing on the
side). Avoid rich, creamy, and sugary sauces, and don’t get potatoes.
Breakfast
Any egg dish with egg whites if possible, low-fat cottage cheese, sugar-free yogurt with berries, turkey bacon, smoked salmon. Avoid wafﬂes, pancakes,
bagels, mufﬁns, doughnuts, and other pastries.
Dessert
If you cannot resist, opt for the fruit plate and/or an herbal tea such as peppermint, which aids in digestion.
Eating Out
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p a r t
SWEAT
3
Why Exercise?
You’ve made it through the Self and Science sections—now it’s time to get up
offa that thing and sweat! Along with the internal work and the right diet, exercise is the third key to getting and staying healthy. Obviously, it will help you
lose weight—we will get to that in just a minute—but exercise offers a ton of
other invaluable beneﬁts as well. Research has clearly linked coronary heart
disease, diabetes, and cancer to lifestyle. Apart from aiding in weight loss,
physical activity offers a positive, healthy way to release anxieties and alleviate
tensions, which can help reduce your risk of many lifestyle-related diseases. Exercise also supports mental well-being: increasing physical activity actually
changes your brain chemistry, which directly inﬂuences your mood and frame
of mind for the better. Among other things, physical activity triggers the release of endorphins, which act on the brain as natural tranquilizers. In addition, exercise will boost your conﬁdence. As you start working out and getting
stronger, your sense of strength in other aspects of your life will naturally ﬂourish as well. Bottom line: the more physically ﬁt you are, the longer you will live
and the better your quality of life will be.
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I know what you’re saying: “That all sounds great. Now tell me how to lose
my behind or my gut.” In weight-loss terms, fat is energy. Those of you with a
high body fat percentage have a lot of stored energy; the best way to lose it is
to use it, and the best way to do that is not just to decrease your energy intake
through diet but also to increase your energy expenditure through exercise. If
you diet without exercise, the majority of your weight loss will be from loss of
muscle; this is not just unhealthy, it’s also temporary, since as soon as you
abandon or even stray from your diet, the weight will come right back. The
only way to lose weight and keep it off long term is to get moving. Exercise not
only helps you burn through calories, it also helps you build, strengthen, and
maintain lean muscle, which keeps your body burning fat not just during your
workout, but for hours afterward—this is known as “after-burn.”
Okay, up until now none of this might sound so new, but here’s where I
take it one step further. I train all different kinds of people, but whether they’re
movie stars or people I train on TV, they have one thing in common across the
board: they, like you, want real results fast. The program outlined in the chapters that follow has been developed during years of combining the best of different exercise methods and watching my clients achieve even the most
extreme weight-loss goals. When it comes to exercise, I’ve seen it all and I
know what works. If you stick with it, my program guarantees you the same results I helped my Biggest Loser team achieve.
So are you ready to break a sweat and start feeling great in your body?
Then let’s get going: the ﬁrst step in your exercise education is to learn a bit
about your muscles and anatomy.
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13
Basic Anatomy
n order to custom design your own ﬁtness regimen, you must ﬁrst understand
which muscles to work out when and why. There are more than six hundred
muscles in the human body and about six billion muscle ﬁbers. As fascinating
as this sounds, it’s way beyond the scope of this book—all you need is a basic familiarity with the major muscle groups located in your hips, upper legs, lower
legs, torso, lower back, abdominals, and arms. What follows is a brief, easy-tounderstand physiology lesson that will familiarize you with the basic muscle
groups you will be working out and how they function within the body.
I
Hips
Your hip region is made up of three main muscle groups: gluteals (your buttocks), adductors, and iliopsoas.
◆ The gluteals, or buttocks, are located on the back of the hips. This
is the largest and strongest muscle set in the body, and its function
is hip extension, or driving the upper legs backward. Activities that
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require this muscle group include walking, running, jumping, and
climbing.
◆ The adductors are the muscles located throughout the inner thigh
and are used during hip adduction, which means bringing your
legs together.
◆ The iliopsoas, or hip ﬂexors, is a collective term for the primary
muscles on the front of your hips. The main function of the iliopsoas is hip ﬂexion, which means bringing your knees to your chest.
The iliopsoas is sometimes considered to belong to the abdominal
muscle group.
Upper Legs
The two main muscle groups of your upper legs, or thighs, are the hamstrings
and quadriceps.
◆ The hamstrings are located on the back of your upper legs. This
muscle group is responsible for knee ﬂexion, or bringing your
heels toward your buttocks, and hip extensions.
◆ The quadriceps are the muscles on the front of your upper thighs.
The main function of the quadriceps is knee extension, or straightening your legs.
Lower Legs
The two major muscle groups in your lower legs are the calves and dorsi ﬂexors.
◆ The calves are located on the back of your lower legs. They are involved in plantar ﬂexion, or extending your ankles and pointing
your toes.
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◆ Dorsi ﬂexors are located on the front of your lower legs and are
primarily used for dorsi ﬂexion, or ﬂexing your ankles. Strengthening the lower leg muscles is crucial to safeguard against shin
splints.
Torso
The three major muscle groups in your torso are the chest, upper back, and
shoulders.
◆ The major muscle surrounding the chest area is the pectoralis major. It is thin and fan shaped. The pectoralis minor is a thin triangular muscle positioned beneath the pectoralis major. The chest
muscles are responsible for any movement that involves pulling
your arms across your body—for example, throwing and pushing.
◆ The muscle that comprises most of the upper back is the latissimus dorsi, or “lats,” which is a long, broad muscle whose primary function is to pull your arms backward and downward, as in
pulling and climbing motions.
◆ The shoulders are comprised of eleven muscles, of which the deltoids are the most important. The deltoids are actually composed
of three separate parts, or heads. The anterior deltoid is found on
the front of the shoulder and is used when you raise your arm forward. The lateral deltoid is located on the side of the shoulder and
is involved when lifting your arms sideways. The posterior deltoid
resides on the back of the shoulder and is used to draw your arms
backward. The deltoids play a vital role in throwing, pushing,
carrying, and climbing.
Basic Anatomy
137
Lower Back
◆ Your lower back contains several muscles of which the erector
spinae are the most important. Their primary purpose is torso extension, or straightening up from a bent-over position. They also
assist in torso lateral ﬂexion, or bending your torso to the side, and
torso rotation, or twisting.
Abdominals
The three major muscles that comprise your abdominals are the rectus abdominus, obliques, and transverse abdominus.
◆ The rectus abdominus, otherwise known as the eight-pack, is a
long, narrow muscle that extends vertically across the front of the
abdomen from the lower rib cage to the pelvis. Its main function is
torso ﬂexion, which is when you pull your torso toward your lower
body.
◆ The obliques, which are divided into external and internal, reside
on both sides of the midsection. Both sets of obliques have the
same two main functions: torso lateral ﬂexion, which is bending
your body and your torso in the same direction, and torso rotation, which is turning your body away from your torso. As you can
see, the obliques are used in any movement in which your torso
bends laterally or twists.
◆ The transverse abdominus is the innermost layer of your abdominal musculature. The ﬁbers of this muscle run horizontally across
the abdomen, and its primary function is abdomen constriction.
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Arms
The three main muscles in your arms are the biceps, triceps, and forearms.
◆ The bicep is the prominent muscle of your upper arm and is involved in elbow ﬂexion, or bending your arms. The biceps also assist the upper back muscles in pulling and carrying.
◆ The tricep is a horseshoe-shaped muscle on the back of your upper
arm. Its primary function is elbow extension, or straightening
your arms. The triceps assist the chest and shoulder muscles in
throwing and pushing.
◆ The forearm is comprised of two muscle groups, anterior and posterior. The anterior group on the top of your forearm facilitates
wrist ﬂexion (bending your wrist) and pronation (turning your
palm downward). The posterior group on the bottom of your forearm facilitates wrist extension (straightening your wrist) and
supination (turning your palm upward). Since the muscles of the
forearms affect the wrists, hands, and ﬁngers, they are extremely
important in pulling, carrying, climbing, and gripping.
Basic Anatomy
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14
Cardio: Everything
You Need to Know
or the most part, my program makes straight cardio exercise obsolete, because the kind of resistance training I will outline in the ﬁnal chapters is as
effective, if not more so, at raising heart levels and burning fat as any cardio routine. That said, cardio is a great way to get a workout on the days when
you are giving your muscles a rest, so it’s important that you get a few basics
under your belt so that you know the best times of day to do it, when to do it
in relation to your resistance training, what your optimum duration and intensity are, and what types of exercise are best for you.
F
WHEN
If you plan on doing cardio on the same day as your resistance training, it is
ideal to do it after your weight routine. While it’s true that a 5-minute cardio
warm-up is always necessary before any resistance training, if you do pro-
141
longed cardio beforehand you will have depleted most of your available blood
sugar, which you very much need for those quick bursts of energy that resistance training requires. Additionally, cardio will fatigue your muscles before
you lift a single weight, and that will prevent you from maxing out your muscle’s potential when training.
On the days when you are resting your muscles and doing straight cardio
alone, the best time of day is absolutely any time. The most important thing is
that you do it. There is a prevailing misconception that cardio is most effective ﬁrst thing in the morning on an empty stomach, the theory being that
you won’t have eaten in 8 to 10 hours, so there will be less blood sugar available for fuel, which will force your body to draw on and burn more of its
stored energy. This is absolutely untrue. Remember the whole theory of a target fat-burning zone and low-intensity exercise being a more effective method
of burning fat than high-intensity exercise? This is untrue for the same reason: a calorie is a calorie no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the calories are
from fat or from carbs—as long as you are burning more of them than you are
taking in, you will lose weight. If anything, working out on an empty stomach
could make you feel weak and could inhibit your performance. My advice is to
do your cardio whenever you have the energy for it, whether it’s morning or
evening, on an empty stomach or following a snack. All that matters is that
you are putting as much into every workout as you can—do that, and you’re
guaranteed to get the most out of it.
DURATION
When it comes to duration, you should do a minimum of 30 minutes and a
maximum of 2 hours of cardio in any single session. On the one hand, the
number of calories you burn in half an hour doesn’t make it worth the trip to
the gym; on the other, you don’t want to exercise intensely for more than 2
hours straight, as excessive activity of this kind releases stress hormones into
the body, such as cortisol, which inhibit weight loss, causing your body to react by storing fat and retaining water out of self-protection.
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WHAT TO DO
You go to the gym and there are rows and rows of different machines to choose
from. So how do you know which kinds of cardio are best? Do you walk, row,
step, or climb your way to ﬁtness? The answer is all of these. You should do
whatever you enjoy the most—just make sure you’re pushing yourself and
keeping your heart rate at 85 percent of your maximum while you are doing it.
Sure, there are machines that are more effective than others, but if you dread
and avoid certain machines, it will be harder to motivate yourself. Make sure to
keep it fresh—if you’ve been doing the treadmill for a while, switch to the stepper for a few weeks. If you only have access to one type of cardio machine, you
can change the way you use it every once in a while so that you are avoiding the
workout plateau and keeping yourself challenged and motivated.
Walking/Jogging/Running
You can perform this activity on a treadmill or outdoors. The key is to mix it
up and keep it challenging. Do you walk on the treadmill but never break a
stroll? Forget about it! That is totally useless. To burn maximum calories, you
have to get your heart rate up to the 85 percent mark mentioned earlier. There
are a few different ways of doing this: you can walk on an incline, walk fast,
run, or jog, depending on what you’re ready for at your current ﬁtness level.
Try performing intervals by running or jogging in quarter-mile bursts. You can
also work different muscles in your legs by running backward every once in a
while. Obviously you can’t do this everywhere. You might also try sports drills
like running sideways, or karaokes, which is trying to run sideways crossing
your right foot over your left foot, then your left foot over your right foot.
Stairs
You can perform this exercise on a stair-climber or step-mill. The key to getting the most out of this exercise is taking full steps. Make sure you let your
bottom leg fully extend, without touching the ground, before stepping back
up. Don’t lean on the machine or hold on to anything. If you need to set the
speed lower in order to go hands-free, do it; you’re still better off moving your
Cardio : Everything You Need to Know
143
upper body as you step. You can also perform this exercise sideways, and alternating your right leg over your left leg, and vice versa. This type of cardio
will also tone your hamstrings, glutes, and calves, which you should bear in
mind if you are working those muscle groups on the same day or on a day
close to your cardio workout.
Elliptical Trainer
This machine is great because it tends to have a lot of variables built in; many
of these machines have adjustable incline ramps, allowing you to work different muscles in your legs. Some also have movable handles that allow you to
work your upper as well as your lower body. Obviously, if the machine you’re
using has these options for maximizing your session by working the upper
body, use them. This machine is also good for people with knee problems, as
it is low impact and easy on your joints. With elliptical trainers, it is important to increase the resistance on the machine; otherwise, gravity will be doing
all the work for you. You can vary the ramp incline in order to target different
leg muscles: if the ramp is inclined and you are pedaling forward, you are
working the back leg muscles: the hamstrings, glutes, and calves; if the ramp
is at a lower incline and you pedal backward, you are training the front leg
muscles: the quads and dorsi ﬂexors.
Swimming
Generally, swimming is kinder to your body than land-based exercise because
your natural buoyancy in water helps you avoid the jarring knocks that can
cause injuries. In water, you weigh about a tenth of your normal weight, and
the range of motion for the less-ﬁt person is much wider because the water
supports the weight of the limbs. So swimming is a good choice for people
who want to exercise, but who might have problems with weight-bearing,
land-based activities. Swimming might suit those who have arthritis or back
problems, weight problems, or are pregnant. To mix things and target different muscles, do vary your strokes during your swim between breaststroke,
freestyle, butterﬂy, and backstroke.
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Recumbent Bike
This form of cardio exercise is great for beginners. It is not the greatest calorie
burner because your body is sitting during the exercise, so you are only working your leg muscles. Having said that, you can still pick up that resistance
and push yourself as much as possible. You might want to consider doing
some light arms while you bike, like bicep curls or shoulder presses, in order
to get your heart rate up.
Rowing
I love this form of cardio for a change of pace. It allows you to work multiple
different muscles simultaneously. You can tone your back, biceps, and quads,
all while working your cardio pulmonary system as well. In order to get the
most out of this exercise, keep the resistance at a minimum of 3. Make sure to
press through your heels as you extend your legs. Keep your abs tight and relax your neck and shoulders. In order to target different back muscles, alternate an overhand grip with an underhand one every 5 minutes.
Jump Rope and Jumping Jacks
This is an excellent form of cardio that you can perform anywhere. No matter
where you are or what the weather, you can always jump. It will take you a little time to build up an endurance for this form of cardio, so try it in intervals
at ﬁrst: jump one minute, rest the next, and so on. This is an outstanding
form of cardio in terms of calorie burning and toning quads, hamstrings, and
calves. Try different types of jumps to spot target different leg muscles. If
you’re jumping rope, try butt kicks or bringing your knees up as high as you
can in between jumps. Try jumping on one foot at a time or alternate feet. The
possibilities are endless with this simple activity.
Classes
The advantage to exercise classes is that they’re a whole lot more fun than
sweating it out by yourself. They also provide company for your misery, which
Cardio : Everything You Need to Know
145
can be a great motivator. Whether it’s spinning, step, boot camp, or any other
cardiovascular class, make sure it involves a minimum of 45 minutes of activity and keeps your heart rate up.
There are a lot of machines and even more ways to get a cardio workout. The
ones that are best for you are, quite simply, the ones you like. Remember, this
is a permanent lifestyle revolution, and you’ve got to ﬁnd a ﬁtness program
that you can live with, even enjoy. If you honestly can’t ﬁnd a single activity
that doesn’t ﬁll you with dread, stick to the machines or exercises that work
the most muscle groups, as this will speed the metabolism, give you faster results, and help keep you motivated to stick with it.
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15
Designing a Workout
Routine That Works
for You
hese last few chapters lay out the core exercise element of my total wellness
plan. Cardio is an important part of any ﬁtness regimen. It allows for a lot
of variety in terms of burning calories, and a working knowledge of the
cardio fundamentals is invaluable. But if you go back to the analogy of a car
being in drive, it’s the next few chapters that’ll kick you into turbo.
You have a basic knowledge of the major muscle groups and how they
function; it’s time to put that knowledge to use in designing an exercise program that’s right for your unique physical attributes and ﬁtness goals.
When it comes to working out and resistance training, there are two kinds
of people: there’s the skinny person who wants to get big and muscular, and
there’s the person who wants to shed fat and get toned. If you’re in the ﬁrst
T
147
category, you can put this book down right now. My exercise methodologies
are not going to help you gain mass. The information you will ﬁnd in these
pages is designed to help you develop and tone muscle, and get rid of excess
fat and ﬂab.
What is uniquely effective about my exercise program is that it does away
with the traditional methods of straight cardio workout and separate weight
training and instead combines the two most result-oriented types of fat burning workouts: high-intensity training and circuit training. Intensity training
is when the muscles are trained aggressively to the point of fatigue, and circuit training is when a series of exercises is performed back to back with little
or no recovery time in between. What makes my combo-training methods so
successful is the fact that your heart rate will be elevated the entire time you
are doing your strength training so that you are burning calories and toning muscle simultaneously—what this means is that basically you are going from one
high-intensity set of exercises to another with as little rest in between as possible. Working out this way, you will quickly turn your body into a hyperefﬁcient fat-burning machine not just for the duration of the workout but—and
this is one of the major beneﬁts—even after you have stopped. In the long
term, this is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off.
DURATION AND FREQUENCY
One of the ﬁrst questions my new clients will ask is how long their workouts
should be. My answer will vary from person to person. One of the most important elements to consider when designing a ﬁtness regimen is practicality:
you will be incorporating regular exercise into your daily schedule, so it is crucial that you don’t overshoot and then get frustrated when you can’t follow
through.
You may have heard the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendation of 30
minutes of physical activity a day—this is intended for people who want to
maintain the most basic level of ﬁtness but not for people who want to lose
weight. Honestly, the few calories you burn from daily 20–30-minute work-
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outs over weeks are almost not worth the time it takes to go to the gym. In a
week, this only works out to an expenditure of about 1,000 calories, which is
ﬁne if you are looking to maintain your current weight. But if you want to
lose, you’re going to have to be prepared for a bit more work.
I much prefer to use the World Health Organization’s recommendation
of 60 minutes at a time as a starting point for my clients—an hour being an
ideal amount of time to really get the most out of your workout. Sure, this requires a little more time, but my program is guaranteed to pay off with serious results—fast. Your 60-minute workout sessions should always include a
warm-up cardio session, 50 minutes of main exercise, whatever you’re doing,
and a cool-down session.
Every workout should start with a 5-minute warm-up cardio session. This
reduces your chance of injury by literally warming up your muscles, tendons,
ligaments, and joints. You should not stretch your muscles out until after you
have warmed them up. The next 50 minutes of your workout is the part that
will make you sweat, and make the pounds melt away.
You will be performing at levels that push you to the max in one burst of
energy after another, and thus you burn calories and tone at the same time.
You’ll get the speciﬁcs in the exercise index and the twelve-week sample routine that follow in the next chapter.
Finally, every workout session should end with a 5-minute cool-down so
that you can bring your heart rate back to normal and get blood circulating
freely again without undue cardiac stress. This part of the workout should
also involve stretching to help relax muscles and increase ﬂexibility.
Apart from duration, it’s also important to know how often you should
be working out. In my experience, the ideal workout frequency for effecting
real, lasting transformation is 5 times a week. Anything over that is unnecessary and can even be counterproductive. It is important to give your muscles a
chance to rest and recover. If you are good to your body, it will be good to you.
Designing a Workout Routine That Works for You
149
SEQUENCE
Equally as important as duration and frequency of your workouts is which
muscles you concentrate on and when. Here’s the deal: it is never a good idea
to work any single muscle group more than twice a week. It is much better for
your muscles if you rotate the groups you work on from one day to the next. I
will use the word split to refer to the way you divide your muscle groups across
several workouts; while you are working one set of muscles, you are allowing
others to recover and rebuild. Take a look at the split routine below, which divides the muscle groups into those of your body’s front and those of the back.
It is what I have found to be most effective in terms of preventing fatigue and
overtraining, and achieving maximum calorie-burning results.
MONDAY
Chest; Shoulders; Triceps; Quads; Rectus abdominus;
Transverse abs
TUESDAY
Back; Biceps; Glutes; Hamstrings; Obliques
WEDNESDAY
OFF
THURSDAY
Chest; Shoulders; Triceps; Quads; Rectus abdominus;
Transverse abs
FRIDAY
Back; Biceps; Glutes; Hamstrings; Obliques
SATURDAY
1 hour of straight cardio—this gives your muscles the
rest and recovery time they need.
SUNDAY
OFF
This split routine might look confusing at ﬁrst, but let me explain the
logic. It is most advantageous to work muscle groups that have similar functions together. For example, the chest, shoulders, and triceps are all used in
basic pushing and pressing motions; when you do a push-up, you are primarily working your chest muscle, but you are also working your shoulder and
tricep muscles. Hence the chest–shoulders–triceps all in one day. The same
goes for back and bicep muscles, whose main function is pulling; when you
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do a pull-up, your body is primarily using the biceps, but it also recruits the
upper back muscles to complete the movement. Splitting the muscle groups
and working them together by function enhances coordination and gets your
muscles working together more efﬁciently.
Additionally, if you split your muscle groups by function, it is easy to ensure
that each muscle group gets time off. In the table above, see how each muscle
group gets at least 2 days off before it is worked again? This prevents overtraining by providing your muscles the time they need to repair and develop.
Now for your leg muscles: working your lower body is the most effective
way to elevate your heart rate and therefore to burn more calories. For this
reason, we want to work the lower body during each resistance training session. I like to divide the lower body muscles into front and back: work the
front on your chest day and the back on your back day. This type of routine allows you to work your upper body and lower body in swift procession in a “super set.” This drives the blood back and forth between your upper and lower
body, allowing you to burn up to twice as many calories than you would from
working all upper or all lower body, due to something called peripheral heart
action (PHA).
PHA is at the heart of my program’s guarantee of results. When you get
the blood moving between the upper and lower body as constantly and furiously as possible during a workout, you greatly reduce the formation and
buildup of lactic acid, which is the cause of muscle fatigue. PHA not only contributes in the short term by helping you burn more calories during your
workout, it also beneﬁts you in the long term by optimizing muscle development and preventing muscle damage or burnout.
Last of all, it is crucial to know the best sequence for performing your exercises so that you do not fatigue your muscles out of a great workout. To prevent undue fatigue, you always want to train the muscles from largest to
smallest.
Here’s the logic: When you exercise one of the big muscle groups, say the
chest, you also recruit the smaller muscles nearby, like the triceps, in a secondary or helper capacity. Your triceps will not work as hard during a chest
press as they will in a triceps curl, but if you exhaust your triceps before you
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151
even get to your chest, they’ll be weak. As a result, you will not be able to give
your chest the best workout possible. So if you get the big ones out of the way
before you spotlight the smaller ones, your performance will improve, and
this means more fat-burning lean muscle in less time.
INTENSITY
Intensity is the last piece of the puzzle. How hard should you work yourself?
When it comes to weight management, there is often debate about the level of
cardio intensity that is most effective for shedding weight. Some experts will
say high intensity is best for losing weight; others swear low-intensity activity
is more effective. Let’s look at the facts.
During physical training, your body has three possible sources of energy:
carbs, fat, and protein. Protein is a last resort—of the three energy sources,
your body is most reluctant to draw on your protein stores. But whether your
body takes energy from its carbs or its fat depends on the intensity of your
workout. Training at a high level of intensity forces your body to draw on carb
calories for energy—they are a more efﬁcient source of energy, so your body
goes for its premium fuel if you’re working hard. If you are training at a low
level of intensity, your body doesn’t need to be as efﬁcient, and it will draw on
a higher percentage of fat calories for fuel.
So it sounds like low-intensity training would be more effective when it
comes to losing fat, right? Wrong. These physiological facts have indeed led to
the mistaken belief that low-intensity activity is better than high-intensity activity when it comes to burning fat and losing weight. Furthermore, this misconception has spawned the notion that people should only train within their
fat-burning zones. The thing is, even though a greater percentage of fat calories is used during low-intensity exercise, the total number of fat calories used
is greater during high-intensity exercise because more overall calories are
burned. For example, in a half hour of low-intensity exercise, you might burn
100 calories. Of those 100 calories burned, roughly 80 percent will be fat calories, meaning you’ve burned 80 fat calories. In a half hour of high-intensity
exercise, you might burn 300 calories. Of those 300 calories, roughly 33 per-
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cent will be fat calories, meaning you’ve burned 100 fat calories. Get it? Even
though the percentage of fat calories burned is higher during a low-intensity
workout, you’re burning so many more total calories during a high-intensity
workout that, percentages aside, you are still burning more fat calories with
high-intensity exercise, not to mention the 200 carb calories you’re burning as
well. High-intensity workouts also trigger higher postworkout metabolism
rates and fat afterburn.
Having said all of this, it is also true that carb calories become fat calories
after a while anyway, so when it comes down to it, a calorie is a calorie is a
calorie. Forget the notion of a fat-burning zone. There is only one moral of
the story: burn as many damn calories as possible whenever you work out.
The one time I do strongly recommend low-intensity exercise over high is
at the beginning of any ﬁtness regimen, when you might be inclined to jump
right in and give it all you’ve got, only to end up burning out or injuring yourself. For the ﬁrst 2 weeks of training, I make all my new clients pass the talk
test during their sessions; you have to be able to carry on a conversation comfortably throughout the workout, or you’re working too hard.
Once you have been exercising for several weeks, it is safe to increase your
intensity, and I recommend working at about 85 percent of your maximum
heart rate. To monitor your intensity, ﬁrst calculate your maximum heart
rate by subtracting your age from 220 if you’re a woman, or 226 if you’re a
man. Once you have calculated what your 85 percent rate is, you can start
keeping yourself at the right intensity by taking your own pulse throughout
your workout. The quickest way is to count the beats for 6 seconds and then
multiply by 10. You should check in ever 10 minutes or so. Sometimes during weight training your heart rate will jump above that 85 percent mark,
which is ﬁne; with weights the only thing you have to be sure of is that your
heart rate doesn’t drop below 75 percent of your max for the duration of the
workout.
When it comes to intensity, you will learn to use your own judgment. If it
feels too easy, increase intensity; if it feels too difﬁcult or your form is compromised, decrease intensity. You will ﬁnd that your abilities change as you
move forward, so it is important to be able to intuit the right intensity level
Designing a Workout Routine That Works for You
153
for you. As you keep working out and getting stronger, you will have to know
when and how to increase your efforts in order to keep moving toward your
goals.
DON’T GET DISCOURAGED
As we discussed in chapter 6, at some point in your weight-loss journey, you
will undoubtedly encounter a disappointing drop in visible results. Just as the
pounds might stop falling off as your metabolism slows down to adapt to the
reduced caloric intake, so too you might ﬁnd that the results you’re getting at
the gym might hit a wall as your body tries to adapt to a new homeostasis. If
you are doing the same exercises again and again, over a period of time your
body will become resistant to the beneﬁts. Do 20 lunges after not having done
them in months and you’ll be sore the next day; but start doing 20 lunges
every day and pretty soon you won’t get sore anymore. And that’s when they
stop doing you any good. This can be discouraging, but it can be rectiﬁed and
in some cases completely circumvented.
Make sure you have not hit a plateau due to overtraining. Take a minute
to assess how your body is feeling. Are you taking proper rest days in between
workouts? Do you feel exhausted all the time? Has your performance at the
gym fallen off? Do your legs feel heavy and hard to move? Is your resting heart
rate higher than usual? If you have answered yes to a few of these questions, it
is possible you might be overdoing it on the exercise, in which case it is best to
raise your caloric intake by 10 percent for a week or so and take that week off
from all physical activity. Let your body fully beneﬁt from the passive calorie
after burning these results from developing lean muscle, and give yourself the
time your muscles need to recover. If your workout is losing steam for other
reasons though, try some of my ideas to get it back on track.
Variety is the spice of life. It’s also the key to keeping your workout progressing so that you are always getting the most out of it, keeping yourself
challenged constantly so that you can continue to marvel at your results. It’s
also good just to make things interesting; if you don’t mix things up every
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once in a while, your routine will become monotonous, unchallenging, and
totally unproductive.
Switch things around at least every 4 to 6 weeks—my personal recommendation is to switch every two weeks, but the length of your program is up to
you. Change your routine around the following three variables: weight load,
sets/repetitions, and modality, or type of exercise. The rest of this chapter details exactly how you can change these three elements of your routine form
time to time and avoid stalling on the road to ﬁtness.
WEIGHT LOAD
The most obvious element to change in your routine is the level of resistance.
No matter what piece of equipment you’re using, even if it’s your own body,
there are many ways of decreasing and increasing the resistance level of your
exercise. This can often be done in conjunction with varying your number of
sets and repetitions as well. For example, for your ﬁrst 6 weeks, your routine
might include a set of lunges for 20 reps using just your body weight as resistance. To change this a little, you could try making it 2 sets for 10 reps, with a
15-pound dumbbell in each hand for added resistance.
SETS/REPETITIONS
Varying the number of reps and sets will constantly surprise the body, which
is another way to keep your workout moving forward. For instance, you
might start out with 3 sets of chest presses for 10 reps in your ﬁrst program,
so for a change you could do 1 set for 30 reps instead.
Apart from changing the number of sets and reps per exercise, you can
also change the way you perform the rep. During a weight-lifting exercise,
your muscle contracts in three distinctly different ways: (1) When you lift the
weight, your muscles contract positively, or concentrically. (2) At the midpoint of the exercise when you stop moving the weight but you’re still holding
it, your muscles contract statically, or isometrically. (3) When you lower the
Designing a Workout Routine That Works for You
155
weight, your muscles contract negatively, or eccentrically. You can adjust the
way you do your reps by shifting focus among the three forms of muscle contraction, which means there are three ways to do almost anything in the
weight room and endless ways to switch around your routine to keep it fresh
and motivating.
MODALITY
Another means of varying your routine is to alternate between different exercises that work the same muscles. For example, if your routine includes the
seated row machine, which works the midback, biceps, and forearms, alternate it with another machine or activity that works the same muscles and
provides a change of position and pace from the seated row. Besides providing variety, alternating your exercises also trains your muscles through different ranges of motion, allowing you to target your muscles with greater
accuracy.
You can refer to the exercise index for exercises listed by muscle group so that
you have plenty of options from which to pick and choose to keep your program challenging, fun, and as effective as possible. You are learning this stuff
so that you can take the reins—be honest with yourself about what your body
is getting out of your workouts. You won’t make progress unless you are constantly challenging yourself; as long as you continue to demand new things
from your muscles, you will continue to see the results in your improving
physique.
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16
Exercise Index
his chapter describes the safest and most productive exercises for each of
the main muscle groups; they will constitute, in various combinations, the
backbone of your workouts. Each description includes identiﬁcation of
the muscles involved, starting position, performance description, training
tips, and progressions and variations for the exercise. This is your one-stop
reference for all things exercise, and together with the sample 12-week program that follows, it will help you construct your own ideal workout.
T
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glutes and legs
FORWARD LUNGE
Muscles targeted: glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves
Starting position: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, with your
weight on your heels. Pull your abdominals in and stand with your
shoulders squarely over your hips.
Performance description: Lift your left leg, leading with your heel, and
step forward in an elongated stride. As your foot touches the ﬂoor,
bend both knees until your left thigh is parallel to the ﬂoor and your
right thigh is perpendicular to it. Your right heel will be off the ﬂoor.
Exhale and press off the ball of your foot, stepping back into the starting position, and repeat, alternating legs.
Tips: Make sure that your front knee is never allowed to travel past your
toes. Keep your eyes focused forward; if you look down, you might lose
balance. Keep your spine straight through the entire movement, with
your shoulders always positioned squarely over your hips.
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variations
STATIC LUNGE
(beginner)
Start with your right leg a stride’s length in front of the left. Bend both knees,
and lower your body so that your left knee is a few inches from the ground
and the right thigh is parallel to the ﬂoor. Hold in this position for a beat,
then exhale, raise back up to the start position, and repeat. Complete a full
set, then switch legs and repeat.
BACKWARD LUNGE
(intermediate)
Start by standing up straight with your feet hip-width apart. Step your right
leg back about a stride’s length behind you, and bend both knees until your
left thigh is parallel to the ﬂoor and your right thigh is perpendicular to it.
Hold for a beat, exhale, then press off your left foot and bring your right leg
back to the starting position next to the left, and repeat, alternating legs. You
will feel this version of the lunge more in your hamstrings.
PENDULUM LUNGE
(intermediate)
Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart. Take a big step back with
your left leg, bending your right knee so that your right thigh is parallel to the
ﬂoor (keeping your right knee behind your toes) and your left thigh is perpendicular to the ﬂoor. Exhale, and pressing with your right foot, swing your
left leg back up and in front of you into a forward lunge so that your left
thigh is parallel to the ﬂoor and your right thigh is perpendicular. Continue
for a full left-leg set, then switch legs and repeat. This dynamic move gives you
excellent quad deﬁnition and chiseled glutes, plus you’re using more core
strength to stabilize you throughout the movement.
Exercise Index
159
variations
SIDE LUNGE
(intermediate)
Stand up straight with your feet hip-width
apart. Step your right leg out to the side
about a stride’s length, keeping it in line
your left foot. Lean onto your left leg, bending at the hip, until your right thigh is
nearly parallel to the ﬂoor. Using the left
leg, exhale and push yourself back into
starting position. Repeat the same motion
with the left leg. This version of the lunge
places greater emphasis on the side of your
glutes and outer quads.
CROSS-OVER LUNGE
(advanced)
Stand up straight with your feet hip-width
apart. Step your left foot diagonally forward and across the right foot. If you were
standing in the middle of a clock facing the
number 12, you would bring your left foot
across the body and place it on the 1. Slowly
lower your right knee until the left leg is
parallel to the ﬂoor. Then using the left leg,
exhale and push yourself back into starting
position. Repeat the same motion with the
right leg, only this time bring your right leg
forward and place it on the number 11. This
type of modiﬁed lunge places greater emphasis on the sides of your glutes.
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variations
JUMPING LUNGE
(highly advanced)
Start by dropping down into a lunge position with your right leg forward and
your left leg back. Exhale and jump upward, launching both legs off the ﬂoor
and switching them in midair. You should land with your left foot forward
and right leg back. Drop back down into a lunge and repeat. This modiﬁcation is for advanced athletes only. It is to develop explosive power and core
strength.
SQUATS
Muscles targeted: glutes, quads, hamstrings
Starting position: Stand with your feet apart as wide as your hips, with your
weight on your heels. Keep your abs tight and stand with your shoulders
squarely over your hips.
Exercise Index
161
Performance description: Sit back and down as if you were to sit down onto a
bench. Keep your back straight, being careful not to lean forward, and lower
yourself down until your thighs are parallel with the ﬂoor. As you exhale,
straighten your legs, stand back up, and repeat.
variations
Tips: Keep your eyes focused forward. Don’t lean forward or let your heels
come off the ground. Don’t let your knees travel forward over your toes or
bow inward as you lower or stand. Keep your belly button sucked in toward
your spine as you stand back up, being careful not to arch your back.
WALL SQUAT
(beginner)
Stand about 11⁄2 feet away from the wall in
your starting position. Now slowly lower
yourself down until your thighs are parallel
with the ground or until you legs form a 90degree angle. Hold this position for as long as
you can, then stand back up. This exercise
helps you build strength in your quads and
develop your form to prepare you for performing a full squat. Don’t be fooled
though—this move can become advanced
quickly depending on how long you hold the
position and if you add any resistance to the
move by holding weights or sitting on one leg
only.
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variations
HACK SQUAT
(intermediate)
For this variation, you need one of those large bouncy balls you see at the gym
known as body balls. Using a body ball can be a convenient way of keeping
your home workout varied and effective. Standing with your back to the wall,
place the body ball between your back and the wall and lean against the ball
so that it is supporting your lower back. Now slowly lower your body until
your thighs are parallel with the ground. Hold for a beat, exhale, and press
back up to your starting position and repeat. This hack squat places a much
greater emphasis on the quads than the glutes.
Exercise Index
163
variations
SUMO SQUAT
(intermediate)
Place your feet apart as wide as you can
while also pointing toes outward. Lower
your body until your thighs are parallel to
the ﬂoor. Hold for a beat, exhale, press
back up to starting position, and repeat.
Keep your shoulders directly over your
hips at all times. Don’t lean forward or let
your knees come out over your toes. Keep
your abs drawn in and don’t arch your
back. This squat modiﬁcation places a
greater emphasis on the inner and outer
thighs.
JUMPING SQUAT
(advanced)
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Lower yourself down until your quads
are parallel to the ground, abs are tight, and shoulders are over the hips, just
like a regular squat. Then from the midpoint position, exhale and explode upward, jumping as high as you can. Land back down in a ﬁrm stance, reset
quickly, and repeat. Jump squats utilize fast twitch muscle ﬁbers to produce
and develop speed and power. They get your heart rate way up, so they burn
lots of calories, and the high resistance of jumping from the squat position
gives you maximum deﬁnition in your quads and glutes.
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variations
KING SQUAT
(advanced)
This move is named after Ian King, who was the ﬁrst person to perform this
technique. Place a bench about 2 feet behind you. Bring your right leg up behind you and bend at the knee. Then place your right foot top down so it rests
on the bench, with the edge of the bench hitting you just at the ankle. Your
left leg should be planted out a little ways in front of you with toes pointing
to the front. Now, bend your left leg until your left thigh is parallel with the
ﬂoor. Your right knee should drop down and back toward the bench, but
should never touch the ground. Keep your front left knee from going over the
toe and keep your shoulders aligned over your hips. Hold for a beat and exhale, pressing back up to the starting position. Complete a full set with your
left foot forward, then switch legs and repeat. The king squat develops core
strength to maintain balance as well as to improve ﬂexibility and overall leg
strength.
Exercise Index
165
variations
ONE-LEG SQUAT
(highly advanced):
Stand on your right leg. Lift your left foot a
couple inches off the ground. The same basic
moves of the squat still apply. Keep your head
up, don’t lean forward, abs stay tight, and the
right heel is on the ground. Don’t let the knee
go over the toe. Slowly lower yourself down as
far as you can comfortably go. Exhale and
stand up straight, balanced on the right leg.
Continue for a full set on the right leg and then
switch over to the left and repeat. This modiﬁcation allows you to strengthen each leg. Since this move requires tremendous
balance, you will utilize more of your core and your stabilizing muscles.
LEG PRESS
Muscles targeted: quads, glutes
Starting position: Sit down in the leg press and place your feet on the platform
about shoulder width apart, toes pointed slightly out.
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Performance
description:
Slowly lower the weight
to a point where your legs
are at about a 90-degree
angle and your quads are
just barely touching your
stomach. From this
point, exhale and press
the weight with your
quads back up to starting
position, and repeat.
Tips: Always push the weight through your heels, not your toes. Never lock
out your knees as you raise the weight; always keep them “soft” or slightly
bent.
STIFF LEG DEAD LIFT
Muscles targeted: glutes, hamstrings, lower back
Starting position: Stand with your feet slightly narrower than shoulder width
apart with knees slightly bent or “soft.” Hold a barbell in both hands or
dumbbells in each hand with your palms facing your legs. Keep your back
straight and your shoulders pulled back.
Performance description: Allow the torso to slowly bend forward and the bar to
lower toward the ﬂoor. Keep your knees slightly bent and your back ﬂat
throughout the entire movement. Lower the bar until your torso is almost
parallel to the ground. From this position, focus on your hamstrings and exhale while slowly lifting your body and the weights back into starting position. Repeat.
Exercise Index
167
variations
Tips: Keep your eyes focused forward to keep your back in the appropriate position. Don’t round your shoulders or bend your knees too much. Be careful not
to use too much weight. If done incorrectly, you can injure your lower back.
PLATFORM STIFF LEG DEAD LIFT
(advanced)
Perform a dead lift while standing on a step or low platform. If you have
enough ﬂexibility, you will be able to lower the bar beyond the level of your
feet to the ﬂoor. This adds intensity to the exercise by increasing the range of
motion and prolonging muscle contraction.
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SEATED HAMSTRING CURL
Muscles targeted: hamstrings
Starting position: Sit on the seated curl
with your back against padded back
support. Place the back of your lower
leg on top of the padded lever just
above your heel. Secure the lap pad
against your thighs just above your
knees. Grasp the handles on the lap
support.
Performance description: Exhale and
variations
slowly pull the weighted leg pad
backward toward your hamstrings.
Hold for a beat, then slowly raise the
bar back to the starting position.
Tips: This exercise allows you to isolate the hamstrings better by making it difﬁcult to cheat and engage your lower back.
LYING HAMSTRING CURL
(intermediate)
Set the ankle pads so that when you lie down on your stomach, the
pads are resting just above your heels. Lie facedown on your stomach and
grab the handles under the bench for stability. Make sure that the bench
ends just above your knees and that your knees are just off the bench. Exhaling, curl your legs up, and bring the ankle pads as close to your hamstrings for a full contraction of the muscle. Hold the contraction for a beat,
Exercise Index
169
variations
then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position and repeat. Keep
your hips pressed against the machine and be careful not to lift your hips
off the bench as you raise the weight.
STEP UP
Muscles targeted: glutes, hamstrings, quads
Starting position: Stand facing a bench or platform with your feet hip-width
apart. Place your left foot up on the step, making sure your whole foot, including the heel, is ﬁrmly placed.
Performance description: Exhale and press off your left leg to bring your right
foot up onto the bench. You should have both feet ﬁrmly planted on the
bench at the midpoint of this exercise. Then slowly lower your left leg back
down to the ground, leaving your right foot ﬁrmly on the bench, and repeat.
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Tips: Pay attention to good posture. Keep your abs drawn in and don’t arch or
round your back when stepping up onto the bench. Control your descent;
don’t let momentum drop your body when you are stepping off the bench.
PELVIC THRUST
Muscles targeted: glutes, hamstrings
Starting position: Lie on your back in front of a bench or platform with your
knees bent and your heels on the bench. Your legs should form a 90-degree
angle with your knees directly above your hips, and your arms should rest on
the ﬂoor at your side.
Performance description: Exhale and press your heels down into the bench, lifting your hips off the ﬂoor as high as you can. Squeeze your glutes as tight as
you can for a beat, then lower back down to the ﬂoor and repeat.
Tips: Your upper arms, shoulders, and neck should remain on the ﬂoor
throughout the exercise.
Exercise Index
171
variations
ONE-LEG PELVIC THRUST
(advanced)
Lie on your back in front of a bench or platform with your knees bent and
your heels on the bench. Your legs should form a 90-degree angle with your
knees directly above your hips, and your arms should rest on the ﬂoor at your
side. Keeping your knees together, exhale and extend your right leg up toward
the ceiling. Now, exhale and press your left heel into the bench. Lift your hips,
pressing your right leg straight up toward the ceiling. Inhale and slowly lower
your body back down to the ﬂoor, and repeat on the other side.
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LEG EXTENSION
Muscles targeted: quads
Starting position: Set the machine so that your back is pressed ﬁrmly against
the back rest. (The shin pad and back rest should be adjustable.) The seat pad
of the machine should be about an inch from the back of your knees and the
shin pad should be positioned just above your ankles. Sit down, bend your
knees, and slide your legs under the shin pad. Hold on to the hands attached
to the seat pad, sit up tall, and draw your belly button inward toward your
spine.
Performance description: Exhale and straighten your legs to lift the ankle bar
until your knees are straight. Hold this position for a beat in order to get a full
contraction on the quads. Then slowly lower the weight 90 percent of the way
back down and repeat.
Tips: Make sure you take the time to adjust the machine to ﬁt your body.
Don’t arch your back to help you lift the weight. Don’t let the ankle pad go all
the way down to starting position in between reps—this motion puts too
much stress on the knees.
Exercise Index
173
variations
SINGLE LEG EXTENSION
(beginner to intermediate)
You perform this exercise in the exact same way as the regular leg extension,
only with one leg at a time. This allows for each leg to work individually without the stronger leg compensating for the weaker one.
BALL SQUEEZE
(intermediate)
You perform this exercise in the same exact way as a regular leg extension,
only you place a medicine ball between your knees. (These are small, heavy
balls, ranging in weight from 2 to 12 pounds. You will ﬁnd them in most
gyms, and they are excellent for adding resistance and increasing the intensity
of any exercise.) As you extend your legs and lift the weight, concentrate on
squeezing the ball so that it does not slip out of place. This modiﬁcation incorporates more inner thigh or adductor strength into the exercise.
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Exercises for the upper body can be conﬁgured to spotlight different muscle groups by changing the grip that you use. Refer to this grip
key as you go through the upper body exercises and their variations.
GRIP KEY
back
W grip
Wide grip
Close
grip for
pulldowns
and
rows
Close
grip for
triceps
and
biceps
Cable
grip
Rope
Medium grip for pulldowns and rows
WIDE-GRIP LATERAL PULL-DOWN
Muscles targeted: latissimus dorsi, teres major (muscles along the side
of your upper back)
Starting position: Sit down at a lat pull station and grab the bar
slightly wider than shoulder width apart with an overhand grip.
Place your legs under the knee pad for support.
Performance description: With your eyes forward and your back
straight, exhale and slowly pull the bar down toward your collarbone.
Exercise Index
175
Slowly raise your hands back above your head to the starting position and
repeat.
variations
Tips: Always keep your shoulder blades adducted (pulled inward toward your
spine) during the entire movement. Do not pull the bar behind your neck. This
places too much stress on your rotator cuff and can result in injury. Do not
lean back or arch your back when performing the move. Leaning or arching
your back engages the lower back muscles instead of the upper back muscles.
MEDIUM UNDERHAND OR
REVERSE-GRIP PULL-DOWN
(beginner)
Sit down at a lat pull station and grab the bar with a reverse or underhand
grip (palms facing you) with your hands shoulder width apart. Place your legs
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variations
under the knee pad for support. Sit up tall and look straight ahead. Exhale
and slowly pull the bar down toward your collarbone. Hold for a beat, then
slowly raise the bar back up to the starting position and repeat. Don’t lean
back. Keep your shoulder blades adducted toward your spine throughout the
entire movement. The medium grip pull-down places more emphasis on your
middle upper back and your biceps.
CLOSE-GRIP PULL-DOWN
(beginner)
Sit down at a lat pull station. This time switch the bars on the lat pull-down
to a close grip bar. Place your legs under the knee pad for support. Sit up tall
and look straight ahead. Exhale and slowly pull the bar down toward your collarbone. Hold for a beat, then slowly raise the bar back up to the starting position and repeat. Don’t lean back. Keep your shoulder blades adducted
toward your spine throughout the entire movement. The close grip places
more emphasis on the rhomboids, traps (upper middle back), and biceps as
well as the lats.
Exercise Index
177
STANDING STRAIGHT ARM LAT PULL
Muscles targeted: lattisimus dorsi and teres major
Starting position: Stand in front of a lat pull-down station. With your arms
outstretched, grab the bar just wider than shoulder width apart with palms
facing down. Hold the bar at your eye level.
Performance description: Keeping your elbows slightly bent and your wrists
locked, exhale and pull the lat bar down toward your body in an arching motion until it touches or comes close to your thighs. Hold for a beat and inhale
slowly allowing the bar to come back up to the starting position.
Tips: Make sure not to arch your back, and keep your abs tight. Don’t let the lat
bar raise above eye level or you’ll release the contraction on your lats. Keep your
wrists locked with your palms angled down toward the ﬂoor to avoid straining.
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variations
TERRY PULLS
(beginner to intermediate)
Stand in between a cable cross station with two pulleys (one in each hand).
Keep one foot forward and one foot behind you. Drop on to your back knee.
Your arms should be outstretched with your palms facing up. Exhale and
slowly pull your elbows down to your rib cage. Hold for a beat, inhale, and
then slowly release your arms back to starting position. Repeat.
DUMBBELL ROW
Muscles targeted: upper and middle back, biceps, rear delts
Starting position: Stand straight with a dumbbell in one hand. Bend forward at
the waist until your torso is almost parallel with the ﬂoor—you can brace
yourself against a workout bench for support. Your knees should be bent.
Your arm should be hanging down with your palm facing your thigh.
Exercise Index
179
Performance description: Keeping your arm close to your torso, exhale and pull
the dumbbell up until it touches the side of your chest. Hold for a beat, slowly
lower the weight back down toward the ﬂoor, and repeat on the other side,
with your other arm.
Tips: Keep your shoulder blades pulled in toward your spine throughout the
entire exercise. Keep your elbows in next to your body and focus on pulling
your elbows straight up toward the ceiling. Keep your back as straight and ﬂat
as possible, even though you are bent at waist. Focus on lifting the weight
with your back muscles, not your arms.
SEATED CABLE ROW
(beginner)
Sit facing the weight tower with your legs slightly bent and hip-width apart. Your
feet should be placed ﬁrmly on the foot pads. Palms inward, grab the grip attached to the cable and straighten your arms out in front of you. Sit up tall,
pulling your abs in, shoulders back, and the chest out. Exhale and pull the grip
toward your chest, squeezing your shoulder blades together as you pull. Without
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variations
leaning forward or releasing your shoulder blades, straighten your arms back to
the starting position and repeat. This version of the row utilizes less of your core
muscles than the dumbbell row. It is also more versatile than the dumbbell row.
Like the lat pull-down, you can change the grip bar on the row cable to vary the
muscles your target in your back: You can do a wide grip row (upper and outer
back muscles). You can do a close or medium grip row (midback muscles).
LOW ROW
(advanced)
Sit as you would for a seated cable row. Face the weight tower and bend your
legs slightly, hip-width apart. With feet placed ﬁrmly on the foot pad, grasp
the grip with your palms facing up, shoulder-width apart. Exhale and slowly
pull the grip down to your stomach. This version of the seated row is great for
the lower back.
SUPERMAN
Muscles targeted: lower back, glutes, hamstrings
Starting position: Lie on your stomach with your forehead on the ﬂoor and
your arms straight out in front of you.
Exercise Index
181
variations
Performance description: Exhale and simultaneously lift both arms and legs a
couple of inches off the ﬂoor. Hold for a beat, then lower your limbs back
down to the ﬂoor and repeat.
Tips: Exhale as your raise your body up and inhale as you lower. Don’t lift
higher than a few inches off the ground. Keep your spine straight and your
eyes focused on the ﬂoor. Don’t look up because it will strain your neck.
SEQUENTIAL SUPERMAN
(beginner)
Start in the same position as superman. In this version you can lessen the
strain on your lower back if you are a beginner by lifting your upper body,
then your lower body separately. Another option is to lift your right leg and
your left arm, then your left leg and your right arm.
BACK EXTENSION
Muscles targeted: lower back, glutes, hamstrings
Starting position: Stand in the middle of the hyperextension station. Facing toward the large ﬂat pad, lean forward until your upper thighs are placed on the
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pad with your hip bones just above the pad. With your legs straight, place the
backs of your ankles (just above the heels) under the smaller pad. If you are a
beginner, place your arms across your chest. For the more advanced version,
place your hands behind your head with your thumbs behind your ears. This
adds extra resistance to the exercise.
Performance description: When in position, inhale and slowly lower your upper
body at the waist until it is almost perpendicular to the ﬂoor. Then exhale and
slowly lift your upper body back to the starting position. Hold for a beat and
repeat. For advanced exercisers, hold a weight plate against your chest to increase the resistance.
Tips: Be careful not to raise your torso beyond the point where your spine is
straight and your back is ﬂat. Control the movement and do not swing your
body to cheat the exercise.
Exercise Index
183
PUSH-UP
Muscles targeted: chest, shoulders, triceps, abs
chest
Starting position: Lie face down
with your legs straight out behind you and your feet together. Bend your elbows and
place your palms on the ﬂoor
out to the sides of your chest.
Position your palms so that
they are directly under your
elbows. When your arms are
bent, they should form a 90degree angle. Your neck
should be straight and your
eyes should be focused on the
ﬂoor in front of you. Keep
your abs tight. Straighten
your arms so that your body is hovering over the ﬂoor, balancing on
your palms and the balls of your feet.
Performance description: Bend your elbows and lower your entire body at
once until your upper arms are parallel with the ﬂoor. Exhaling, push
back up to the starting position and repeat.
Tips: Keep your back straight and your eyes focused on the ﬂoor in
front of you.
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variations
MODIFIED PUSH-UP
(beginner)
Find a stable elevated bench upon which to perform this exercise. If you are at
home, the back of your couch or coffee table will sufﬁce. If you are at the gym,
use a weight bench. Place your palms on the bench of your choice several
inches wider than shoulder width apart. Step your feet back behind you so
that you are balancing in a prone position over the bench. You should be supporting your weight on the underside of your toes and the palms of your
hands. Bend your elbows and lower your entire body down into push-up position. Your chest should line up with your hand position on the bench and
your arms should both be in 90-degree angles at the midpoint of this exercise.
Your neck should be straight and your eyes should be focused on the ﬂoor in
front of you. Keep your abs tight. Exhaling, push back up to your starting position and repeat. Try to avoid doing “girl” push-ups on your hands and
knees. This version is much better because it still forces you to use your core
muscles, whereas the “girl” version does not.
PLYO PUSH-UP
(advanced)
Start in a push-up position hovering above the ﬂoor. Slowly lower
yourself into a push-up. With an
explosive burst, exhale and push
yourself up, lifting your hands off
the ﬂoor and clapping them together. Land back in a push-up position and repeat. The plyometric
push-up builds muscle by adding
resistance to the regular push-up.
Exercise Index
185
variations
CLOSE-GRIP PUSH-UP
(advanced)
Start in a push-up position except keep your hands directly under your shoulders instead of outside your chest. Your legs should be straight out behind
you with feet slightly apart so you are balancing on your palms and the balls
of your feet. Keep your elbows pressed ﬁrmly against your torso as you slowly
lower yourself down into a push-up. Exhale, press back up to the starting position, and repeat. This close-grip push-up places more emphasis on your anterior shoulders and triceps as well as your chest.
DUMBBELL CHEST PRESS
Muscles targeted: chest, shoulders
Starting position: Lie on your back on a workout bench with your feet up on the
bench. (You can also perform this exercise lying on a body ball with your feet
placed ﬁrmly on the ﬂoor.) Hold the dumbbells over your chest with your
arms extended toward the ceiling and both palms facing forward.
Performance description: Inhale as you bend your elbows and lower the dumbbells
to just above chest level. At the midpoint of this exercise, your upper arms
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variations
should be parallel to the ground with your forearms perpendicular to the ﬂoor,
and your knuckles should be pointed toward the ceiling. Hold for a beat, then
exhale and press the weights back up to the starting position, and repeat.
Tips: Lower the weights slowly. Do not lower the weights below the edges of
your outer chest or you risk straining your bicep tendon. Most people make
the common mistake of raising the weights above their head. Make sure to
keep the weights directly over the center of your chest.
INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS
(Intermediate)
Sit on the edge of a workout bench inclined at a 45-degree angle. Pick up
your dumbbells in each hand and place them on your thighs. Position them
one at a time at the base of your shoulders with your palms facing forward.
Slowly lean back and get yourself ﬁrmly situated on the bench. Exhale and
press the weights up to a point directly over your chest. Then inhale deeply as
you lower the weights, bringing your arms to a 90-degree angle, and repeat.
This variation of the dumbbell press places emphasis on the shoulders as
Exercise Index
187
variations
well as the chest. Make sure not to set the bench at too steep and angle or you
will place all the emphasis on your shoulders and very little on your chest.
CABLE CHEST FLYS
Muscles Targeted: chest, shoulders, triceps
Starting position: Stand in between a cable cross station with two pulleys (one
in each hand). Keep one foot forward and one foot behind you. Your hands
should be slightly above shoulder level, with your arms open and elbows
slightly bent.
Performance Description: Exhale and slowly contract your chest, keeping arms
slightly bent, and bring your hands together to meet in the center. Inhale and
open your arms back to starting position and repeat.
Tips: Be sure to maintain a slight bend in your elbow throughout the entire
exercise to keep the tension on your chest instead of your joints. Do not al-
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low more than a slight bend though, or the moves become more like a press
than a ﬂy.
DUMBBELL CHEST FLYS
(beginner)
Lie on your back on a workout bench with your feet up on the bench. (You can
also perform this exercise lying on a body ball with your feet placed ﬁrmly on
the ﬂoor.) Hold the dumbbells over your chest with your arms extended toward the ceiling and both palms facing each other. Inhale, open your chest,
and slowly lower the weights in a semicircle arc out to the sides of your chest.
Do not lower your arms farther than parallel with the ﬂoor or you risk straining your bicep tendon. Exhale and raise the weight, again in an arc, back up to
the starting position, and repeat.
Exercise Index
189
variations
INCLINE DUMBBELL FLYS
(intermediate)
Sit on the edge of a workout bench that is inclined at a 45-degree angle. Pick
up your dumbbells in each hand and place them on your thighs. Raise the
dumbbells over your chest with your arms extended toward the ceiling and
both palms facing each other. Inhale, open your chest, and slowly lower the
weights in a semicircle arc out to the sides of your chest. Do not lower your
arms farther than parallel with the ﬂoor or you risk straining your bicep tendon. Exhale and raise the weight, again in an arc, back up to the starting position, and repeat. This version of the dumbbell chest ﬂy allows you to target
different muscle ﬁbers in your chest than the ﬂat bench press, allowing for
some variety in your chest routine.
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MILITARY SHOULDER PRESS
Muscles targeted: shoulders
shoulders
Starting position: Sit on the edge of a bench or body ball with your feet
ﬂat on the ﬂoor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and rest them on your
thighs. Sit up tall with your abs drawn in, your back straight, and your
eyes focused forward. Raise the weights to ear level with your palms
facing forward. Your arms should be in a 90-degree angle, elbows out
to the sides, forearms perpendicular to the ﬂoor, and upper arms parallel with the ﬂoor.
Performance description: Exhale and press the dumbbells up and in so
that they barely touch over your head. Hold for a beat, inhaling, slowly
lower the weights back to the starting position, and repeat.
Tips: Do not let the weights stray back and forth. Be careful not to arch
your back when you raise the weights. Do not lower the weights below
your ears or you’ll release the contraction on your shoulders.
Exercise Index
191
variations
W SHOULDER PRESS
(intermediate)
Sit on the edge of a bench or body ball with your feet ﬂat on the ﬂoor.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and rest them on your thighs. Sit up tall
with your abs drawn in, your back straight, and your eyes focused forward.
Raise the weights to ear level with your palms inward toward your ears.
Your arms should be in a 90-degree angle, elbows out to the sides, forearms perpendicular to the ﬂoor, and upper arms, parallel with the ﬂoor.
Exhale and extend your arms up and out as though you are trying to form
the letter W with your arms. Hold for a beat. Inhale, slowly lowering the
weights back to the starting position, and repeat. This shoulder press variation does work your entire shoulder, but it speciﬁcally targets the lateral
head of the muscle.
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variations
REVERSE-GRIP SHOULDER PRESS
(intermediate)
Sit on the edge of a bench or body ball with your feet ﬂat on the ﬂoor. Hold
a dumbbell in each hand and rest them on your thighs. Sit up tall with
your abs drawn in, your back straight, and your eyes focused forward. Raise
the weights to ear level with your palms inward toward your eyes. Your
arms should be in a 90-degree angle with your elbows together in front of
your body. Your forearms should still be perpendicular to the ﬂoor and
your upper arms parallel with the ﬂoor. Exhale and extend your arms
straight up toward the ceiling. Keep your arms together throughout the entire exercise. Hold for a beat. Inhale, slowly lowering the weights back to
the starting position, and repeat. This shoulder press variation does work
your entire shoulder, but it speciﬁcally targets the anterior or front head of
the muscle.
LATERAL SHOULDER RAISE
Muscles targeted: lateral head of the
shoulder
Starting position: Stand upright with your
feet shoulder-width apart and your arms
at your sides. Hold a dumbbell in each
hand with your palms turned toward
your body.
Performance description: Keeping your
arms straight, exhale and lift the
weights out and up to the sides until
they are parallel to the ground. Hold for
Exercise Index
193
a beat. Inhaling, slowly lower your arms back to the starting position, and
repeat.
variations
Tips: Keep your palms turned down toward the ﬂoor throughout the entire exercise so that you isolate the shoulders and do not engage the biceps. Do not
swing the weight, lean forward, or arch your back.
ANTERIOR SHOULDER RAISE
(beginner)
Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your
sides. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing behind you.
Keeping your arms straight, exhale and lift the weights up straight in front of
your torso until they are parallel to the ground. Hold for a beat. Inhaling,
slowly lower your arms back to the starting position, and repeat. The anterior
shoulder raise targets the front head of your shoulders.
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variations
BENT-OVER SHOULDER RAISE
(beginner)
Sit on the edge of a workout bench with a dumbbell in each hand and your
feet shoulder-width apart, bending forward at the waist so that your upper
body is parallel with the ﬂoor. Let your arms hang straight down under your
chest with your palms facing behind you. Exhale and raise the dumbbells,
pulling your arms apart, up and out, until they are parallel with the ﬂoor.
Hold for a beat. Inhaling, slowly lower your arms back to the starting position, and repeat. Keep a slight bend in your elbows throughout the entire
movement. Be careful not to lift your torso when your raise the weight. The
bent-over shoulder raise targets your rear shoulders where your back muscles
and shoulders come together.
Exercise Index
195
DUMBBELL BICEP CURLS
Muscles targeted: biceps
biceps
Starting position: Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart
and your arms at your sides. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your
palms facing toward the sides of your body.
Performance description: Exhale, and keeping your elbows locked ﬁrmly
against your rib cage, curl both arms three-quarters of the way up toward your shoulders rotating your wrist so your palm faces upward.
Hold or a beat, focusing on squeezing your biceps. Inhale and slowly
lower your arms back to the starting position, and repeat.
Tips: Stand straight and be careful to use slow, controlled movements.
Be careful not to swing the weights. Do not lift your elbows when you
raise the weights or you will engage your shoulders instead of isolating
your biceps.
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variations
HAMMER CURLS
(beginner)
Stand upright with your feet shoulderwidth apart and your arms at your sides.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your
palms facing inward toward the sides of
your body. Exhale, and keeping your elbows locked ﬁrmly against your rib cage,
curl both arms three-quarters of the way
up toward your shoulders. Hold for a
beat, focusing on squeezing your biceps.
Inhale and slowly lower your arms back
to the starting position, and repeat. This
version of the bicep curl puts more emphasis on the forearms, as well as some
muscles that reside underneath the bicep.
ZOTTMAN CURLS
(beginner)
Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your
sides. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing inward toward
the sides of your body. Exhale, and as your curl your arms upward, rotate your
palms in toward your body, and bring your arms up and across to the opposite shoulder. Keep your elbows locked ﬁrmly against your rib cage throughout the entire exercise and only curl both arms three-quarters of the way up
toward your shoulders. Hold for a beat, focusing on squeezing your biceps.
Inhale and slowly lower your arms back to starting position, and repeat. This
version of the bicep curl puts more emphasis on the forearms and the inside
of the bicep.
Exercise Index
197
variations
REVERSE-GRIP CURLS
(intermediate)
Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your
sides. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing behind you. Exhale, and keeping your elbows locked ﬁrmly against your rib cage, curl both
arms three-quarters of the way up toward your shoulders. Hold for a beat, focusing on squeezing your biceps. Inhale and slowly lower your arms back to
starting position, and repeat. This version of the bicep curl puts more emphasis on the forearms and wrists as well as the biceps.
CONCENTRATION CURLS
(intermediate)
Hold a dumbbell in your right hand and
sit on the edge of a bench or a chair with
your feet a few inches wider than your
hips. Lean forward from your hips and
place your right elbow against the inside
of your right thigh, just behind your
knee. The weight should hang down near
the inside of your ankle. Place your left
palm on top of your left thigh. Exhale
and bend your right arm, curling the
dumbbell three-quarters of the way up
toward your shoulder. Hold for a beat,
then inhale slowly, lowering the weight,
and repeat. The concentration curl really
isolates the biceps by taking any assistance from the back and shoulders totally out of the equation. Be careful not to cheat by leaning back for help
when you are lifting the weight.
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variations
INCLINE DUMBBELL CURLS
(advanced)
Grab a pair of dumbbells in each hand and sit on a workout bench inclined at
45 degrees with your feet ﬁrmly planted on the ﬂoor. Let your arms fall at
your sides with your palms facing forward. Exhale, and keeping your elbows
locked ﬁrmly against your rib cage, curl both arms three-quarters of the way
up toward your shoulders. Hold for a beat, focusing on squeezing your biceps.
Inhale and slowly lower your arms back to the starting position, and repeat.
This modiﬁcation of a basic bicep curl stretches the muscle while strengthening it.
HANGING CURLS
(intermediate)
Grab a pair of dumbbells in each hand and lie facedown on a slightly inclined
workout bench. Place your knees ﬁrmly on the seat part of the bench with
your feet together. Let your arms fall straight down toward the ﬂoor at your
sides with your palms facing forward. Exhale and curl both arms threequarters of the way up toward your shoulders, keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the ﬂoor throughout the entire exercise. Hold for a beat,
focusing on squeezing your biceps. Inhale and slowly lower your arms back to
the starting position, and repeat. This modiﬁcation also completely isolates
the biceps by taking any assistance from the back and shoulders totally out of
the equation.
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199
variations
CABLE CURLS
(advanced)
Stand in between a cable cross station with two pulleys (one in each hand)
and feet hip-width apart. Your hands should be reaching up toward the pulleys with your palms facing up. Exhale and slowly contract your biceps curling your ﬁsts inward toward your ears. At the midpoint of this exercise, your
elbows should be pointing up and out toward the pulleys. Hold for a beat, exhale, and slowly release your arms back to starting position. Repeat.
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BENCH DIPS
Muscles targeted: triceps
Starting position: Stand with your back to a sturdy bench or chair. Bend
triceps
your legs and place your palms on the front edge of the bench. Position
your feet in front of you so that most of your body weight is resting on
your arms.
Performance description: Keeping your elbows tucked along your sides,
bend your arms and slowly lower your body until your upper arms are
parallel with the ﬂoor. Your hips should drop straight down toward
the ground. Hold for a beat, then exhale and straighten your arms back
up to the starting position, and repeat.
Tips: Be careful not to lower your body too far or you will overstress
your shoulders. Do not lean forward or away from the bench, which
also creates stress on your shoulders.
Exercise Index
201
variations
STRAIGHT LEG BENCH DIPS
(intermediate)
Start out as you would for a regular bench dip, with your back to a sturdy
bench or chair. Keeping your legs straight, place your palms on the front edge
of the bench or chair. You should be supporting most of your body weight
with your arms. With your elbows tucked in at the side, bend your arms and
slowly lower your body until your upper arms are parallel with the ﬂoor. Your
hips should drop straight toward the ground. Hold for a beat, then exhale
and straighten your arms so you are back to starting position, and repeat. As
a variation, you can also rest your feet on a body ball. By resting your legs on
the body ball, you’re incorporating more of your core muscles to help you stabilize your body throughout the exercise. For a real challenge you can place
one foot on the ball and hold the other straight out suspended in the air.
TRICEP PRESS-DOWN
Muscles targeted: triceps
Starting position: Set the pulley of the cable at the topmost setting and attach a
straight bar or U-shaped bar. Grasp the bar with your palms facing down and
your hands about several inches from the center of the bar. Stand with your
feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your elbows so that your forearms are slightly
raised parallel to the ground.
Performance description: Exhale and push the bar straight down, keeping your
elbows ﬁrmly pressed against your sides. Hold for a beat. Inhaling slowly,
raise the bar back up to starting position and repeat.
Tips: Keep your abs tight, chest out, and shoulders back. Don’t let your elbows
wing out or lift up as you press and raise the weight. Be careful not to cheat by
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leaning forward and pushing the weight down with your shoulders. Do not
let the bar raise higher than just above parallel to the ﬂoor or you are releasing
the contraction on your triceps.
variations
REVERSE-GRIP TRICEP PRESS-DOWN
(beginner)
Set the pulley of the cable at the topmost setting and attach a straight bar.
Grasp the bar with your palms facing up and your hands about several inches
from the center of the bar. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend
your elbows so that your forearms are slightly raised parallel to the ground.
Exhale and push the bar straight down, keeping your elbows ﬁrmly pressed
against your sides. Hold for a beat. Inhaling slowly, raise the bar back up to
the starting position, and repeat. This variation is easier than the overhand
version because it allows the biceps to assist the triceps signiﬁcantly.
ROPE PRESS-DOWN
(intermediate)
Set the pulley of the cable at the topmost setting and attach a rope grip. Grasp
the rope with your palms facing each other and your thumbs up. Stand with
your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your elbows so that your forearms are
slightly raised parallel to the ground. Exhale and pull the rope a few inches
apart as you press it down. Keep your elbows ﬁrmly pressed against your sides.
Hold for a beat. Inhaling slowly, raise the rope back up to the starting position, and repeat. This variation is more difﬁcult because it changes the range
of motion of this exercise. You not only have to press the weight down, but
you also have to simultaneously pull it to the outside of your body.
Exercise Index
203
DUMBBELL TRICEP EXTENSION
Muscles targeted: triceps
Starting position: Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench with your
feet shoulder-width apart. Extend both arms directly over your head so that
they are perpendicular to the ﬂoor and in line with your body.
Performance description: Inhaling, bend your arms slowly, lowering the dumbbells behind your head. Keep your elbows close to your head and pointed
straight up throughout the entire exercise. Lower the weight until you feel a
stretch in the back of your arms. Exhale and raise the weight following a
slight arc back up to the starting position.
Tips: Be careful not to hit the back of your head when raising the weight. Do
not let your elbows ﬂare out so that you can maintain emphasis on the triceps, not the shoulders.
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variations
DUMBBELL FRENCH PRESS
(intermediate)
Lie on a bench with your feet placed together on top of the bench. Hold a
dumbbell in each hand and straighten your arms directly over your shoulders
with your palms facing each other. Pull your abdominals in and keep your
head and neck relaxed on the bench. Keeping your upper arms perpendicular
with the ﬂoor, inhale and bend your elbows, lowering the dumbbells back and
down until they are alongside either ear. Then exhale and straighten your
arms to raise the dumbbell back up to the starting position, and repeat.
TRICEP KICK BACKS
Muscles targeted: triceps
Starting position: Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet hipwidth apart and a slight bend in your knees. Bend over at the waist so that
Exercise Index
205
your torso is slightly above parallel with the ﬂoor. Bend both elbows so that
your upper arms are locked at your sides parallel to the ﬂoor. Your forearms
should be perpendicular to the ﬂoor.
Performance description: Keeping your upper arms still, straighten your arms
behind you until the end of the dumbbell is pointing down toward the ﬂoor
with your palms facing in toward your body. Hold for a beat and inhale,
slowly lowering your arms back to the starting position, and repeat.
Tips: Keep your abs tight and your back ﬂat. Do not let your upper arms move
throughout the entire exercise.
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BASIC CRUNCH
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominuls
Starting position: Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet
placed ﬂat on the ﬂoor about hip-width apart. Place your hands behind your head so that your thumbs are behind your ears. Do not lace
your ﬁngers together. Keep your elbows open and out to the sides.
Keep your chin up and off your chest.
abs
Performance description: Take a deep breath, then exhale while curling up
and forward until your shoulder blades are lifted off the ﬂoor. Hold for
a moment at the top of the movement, fully exhale all of the air in your
lungs for complete contraction of the abs, then slowly lower yourself
back to the ﬂoor. Another option if you can’t stop pulling on your neck
is to cross your arms across your chest. Keep your tongue pressed on the
roof of your mouth to help alleviate straining the back of your neck.
Tips: Pick a spot on the ceiling and keep your eyes focused on it to avoid
pulling on your neck, and do not bring your elbows in or forward.
Exercise Index
207
variations
When crunching, pull—do not push—your stomach out. Instead, pull your
belly button inward toward your spine. Try to imagine you’re lifting your chin
up—not forward—toward the ceiling.
CRUNCH TWIST
(beginner–intermediate)
Get into the starting position of a basic crunch. Place your right hand behind
your head so that your right thumb is behind your right ear. Place your left
hand at your side on the ﬂoor. Crunch up and twist your torso to the left, raising your right armpit up and across the body toward your left knee. Lower
back to the ﬂoor and repeat. You can switch sides or perform a full set on each
side. The crunch twist still works the rectus abdominus, but it places greater
emphasis on the external obliques.
OBLIQUE SIDE CRUNCH
(beginner–intermediate)
Get into the start position of a basic crunch. From there, roll your knees over
to the left side and rest your legs on the ﬂoor in a bent position. Keep your
torso straight. Take a deep breath and then exhale while crunching up and
forward until your shoulder blades lift off the ﬂoor. Hold for a moment at the
top of the movement, fully exhale for complete contraction
of the abs, and then slowly
lower back to the ﬂoor. Complete a full set and then repeat
with legs resting to your right.
The oblique side crunch still
works the rectus abdominus,
but it places greater emphasis
on the internal obliques.
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variations
BALL CRUNCH
(intermediate)
Sit on top of the body ball with your feet placed ﬂat on the ﬂoor about hip-width
apart. All the basic crunch tips still apply: hands behind your head so that your
thumbs are behind your ears, elbows out, eyes and chin up. Slowly pull your abs
inward as you lean back on the ball so that your entire back from your tailbone
to your shoulders is resting on the ball. Exhale as you curl up and forward until
your shoulder blades come off the ball. Hold the midpoint position for a beat,
then inhale, lowering slowly back down onto the ball. For a real challenge, try
performing the same exercise with one foot elevated several inches off the ﬂoor.
Your hip stabilizer and abdominals will have to work much harder to keep you
balanced throughout the movement. The ball crunch is a much more intense
crunch because it allows for a fuller range of motion while performing the exercise as well as developing core stability to help you balance on the ball.
LEGS-UP CRUNCH
(intermediate)
Lift your legs off the ﬂoor and hold them up toward the ceiling, then perform
a basic crunch. This modiﬁcation engages the lower abs and hip ﬂexors as well
as the upper abs.
Exercise Index
209
variations
REVERSE CRUNCH
(intermediate)
Lie on your back with your feet off the
ﬂoor, knees bent, and ankles together.
Bring the tops of your quads inward
and onto your stomach so that you
don’t swing your legs to gain momentum during the movement. This also
helps you isolate your lower abs during the crunch instead of engaging
the hip ﬂexors. Relax your head, neck,
and shoulders, resting them on the
ﬂoor. Lift your pelvis off the ﬂoor and
curl it toward your rib cage. Make
sure to fully exhale while you’re
crunching in order to maximize the
contraction. If you really want a challenge, hold your arms out at your
sides and several inches off the ﬂoor. This helps to further isolate your abs,
prohibiting your arms from assisting in the crunch by pressing off the ﬂoor
with your hands. The reverse crunch speciﬁcally targets the lower abs and
transverse abs.
BICYCLE CRUNCH
(intermediate)
Lie on your back with your legs up
and bent at the knee, so your thighs
are perpendicular to the ﬂoor and
your calves are parallel to the ﬂoor.
Draw your belly button in toward
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variations
your spine, and press your lower back into the ﬂoor. Rest your hands behind
your head with your thumbs behind your ears. Exhale as you extend your
right leg out straight; simultaneously lift your shoulders off the ﬂoor, keeping your elbows open, and bring your right armpit and left knee toward each
other. Inhale, then exhale as you repeat the exercise, using the opposite arm
and leg. Keep the movement slow and controlled. The bicycle targets your rectus abdominus (inner and outer obliques).
WEIGHTED CRUNCH
(advanced)
Lie on your back in the basic crunch position. Take a dumbbell, weight plate,
or medicine ball and hold it above or on top of your chest. You can also hold
the weight behind your head, but it places a greater strain on your back. Now
perform a basic crunch, but you will raise the weight as you raise your chest
up toward the ceiling. The weighted crunch is for building a “six-pack.” This
modiﬁcation targets your upper abs, and adding weight to the exercise stimulates muscle growth. If you still have weight to lose, I do not recommend this
move. If you build your stomach muscles underneath fat, it will only create
the illusion of a bigger tummy.
Exercise Index
211
variations
DOUBLE CRUNCH
(advanced)
Lie on your back in basic crunch position. Eyes and chin are up; elbows are
out and open. Exhale and simultaneously crunch your upper and lower
body at once (you are simply performing a basic crunch and reverse crunch
at the same time). Think about touching the bottom of your rib cage and
your hips together. The double crunch targets your entire rectus abdominus. It is very difﬁcult but very effective.
HANGING ABS
Muscles targeted: lower abs, transverse abs, hip ﬂexors
Starting position: Slide your arms into two padded loops suspended from a bar
or frame. Keep your feet together and let your legs hang down slightly in front
of your body.
Performance description: Keeping your feet together, exhale while slowly raising
your knees upward toward the ceiling. If you are capable, try continuing this
motion, and rolling your pelvis upward toward the ceiling, touch your knees
to your elbows.
Tips: Keep your head up and eyes forward. Don’t swing your legs to gain momentum. Be slow, focused, and controlled.
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variations
HANGING ABS WITH A TWIST
(intermediate)
Get into the hanging abs starting position. Keeping your feet together, exhale,
and while slowly raising both your knees, try to pull the left knee to the right
outside of your body. Slowly lower your legs back to the starting position and
repeat on the opposite side. Modifying the move in this way not only works
the lower and transverse abs but also targets the internal obliques.
Exercise Index
213
variations
STRAIGHT LEG HANGING ABS
(advanced–highly advanced)
Get into the hanging abs starting position. Keep your legs straight while raising them up and out until they are parallel with the ﬂoor. For a challenge, try
raising your legs all the way up toward the ceiling and touch the bar above
your head with your feet.
PLANK
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominus, lower back, chest, shoulders
Starting position: Start in a push-up position, except keep your hands directly under your shoulders instead of outside your chest. Legs are out straight behind
you with feet together. You are balancing on your palms and the balls of your
feet. Hold this position for as long as you can. Work your way up to 1 minute.
Performance description: Nothing to perform here. Just hold this static contraction as long as you can. It’s a lot harder than it sounds!
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Tips: Be conscious of keeping your spine neutral (straight). Keep your eyes focused on the ground in front of you. Don’t arch your back. Imagine you are
pulling your belly button up toward the ceiling.
variations
PLANK TWISTS
(intermediate)
Start in plank position. Maintaining this position, exhale and rotate your
torso by bringing your right knee in toward your left armpit. Return to the
starting position, then repeat with the left knee toward the right armpit.
Plank twists work not only the rectus abdominus but the internal obliques as
well.
Exercise Index
215
variations
SIDE PLANK
(advanced)
Start by lying on your right side,
legs extended, with your left foot
stacked on top of your right. Support your body weight on your
right elbow and right hip. Rest
your left arm on the side of your
body. Keeping your belly button
pulled in, exhale and raise your
hips up until your body forms a
straight line from head to toe.
Hold for as long as you can. Try
and work up to holding this position for a minute. To give yourself
a challenge, raise your hips up until your body forms a straight line
from head to toe, then slowly
lower your hips back down to the starting position, and repeat. Perform a full
set, then switch to the other side, and repeat. Make sure and keep your chest
out, shoulders back, and spine straight. This version of the side plank targets
your inner and outer obliques.
UNSTABLE PLANK
(advanced)
Start in the plank position. Keeping your belly button pulled in, exhale as you
lift your left arm and reach forward, simultaneously lifting your left leg off the
ﬂoor. Breathe deeply as you hold the pose for 10 seconds. Lower your limbs
back to the plank position, then repeat with the opposite arm and leg. If you
ﬁnd this too difﬁcult, you can work up to it by lifting only one limb at a time.
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EXTENDED PLANK
(advanced)
Start in a straight plank position, except instead of placing your hands
under your shoulders, bring your hands together and place them on the
ﬂoor in front of you (about 3 inches in front of your head). This variation
places much greater emphasis and intensity on the rectus abdominus because you are not able to utilize your arms as pillars to support your body
weight.
LYING LEG RAISES
Muscles targeted: lower abs, transverse abs
Starting position: Lie on your back with your legs straight out in front of you.
Place your hands under your hips with your palms ﬂat on the ﬂoor for support.
Performance description: Exhale slowly and lift your legs up without bending
them until they are perpendicular with the ﬂoor. Inhale and slowly lower
Exercise Index
217
them back toward the ﬂoor, but do not let them touch the ﬂoor. Hold them
for a beat several inches off the ground, then repeat.
Tips: Keep your legs straight the entire time. Do not lift your head or arch your
variations
back.
SCISSORS
(intermediate)
Lie on your back with your legs straight out in front of you. Place your hands
under your hips with your palms ﬂat on the ﬂoor for support. Raise your legs
to a 45-degree angle about 11⁄2 feet off the ﬂoor. Exhale and scissor your legs
back and forth, bringing your right leg over your left and your left leg over
your right. Move your legs up and down an imaginary ladder, scissoring them
as high as you can and as low as you can without touching the ﬂoor. Start out
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scissoring for 30 seconds and try to work your way up to a minute. Scissors
work lower abs as well as inner thighs.
HOLLOWMAN
(intermediate–advanced)
Lie on your back with your legs
straight out in front of you, arms
resting at your sides. Exhale and
raise your legs about 6 inches off
the ﬂoor. Simultaneously crunch
up with your lower body and
reach your hands out toward your
feet. At midpoint of this pose, you
should feel as though your midExercise Index
219
variations
section is hollow. Hold this pose for as
long as you can, trying to work your way
up to a minute. Keep your eyes on the ceiling with your chin up. This modiﬁcation
works your entire abdominus rectus.
LATERAL LEG RAISES
(advanced)
Lie on your back with your legs directly
above your hips perpendicular to the ﬂoor.
Your arms should be straight out to your
sides as if forming a T with your torso.
Your palms are down on the ﬂoor for support. Inhale and slowly lower your legs
directly over to your right side. Bring them as low as you can without touching
the ﬂoor. Keeping your legs totally straight, exhale and raise them back up to
the starting position. Switch over to the left side and repeat. Lateral leg raises
predominantly target the obliques as well as the lower abs and hip ﬂexors.
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RUSSIAN TWIST
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominus,
internal and external obliques, transverse abs
Starting position: Lie on your back
with your knees bent and your feet
placed ﬂat on the ﬂoor about hipwidth apart. You can place weights
on your feet to help keep them
rooted on the ground. Now sit about
halfway up and place your hands directly out in front of you. Your arms
are straight with palms together and
your chin is up and off your chest.
Performance description: Take a deep
breath and then exhale while slowly
twisting your torso as far to the right
as you can manage without changing the angle of your torso from the
ﬂoor. Now inhale slowly and rotate
your torso back to the starting position. Repeat by rotating torso to the
left side.
Tips: Keep you chest out and your shoulders back; careful not to round your
back. Hold for a moment at the top of the movement, fully exhale for complete contraction of your abs, and then slowly return to center or start position.
Exercise Index
221
interval cardio moves
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS
Muscles targeted: cardiopulmonary system, chest, shoulders, lower abs, transverse abs
Starting position: Start in a
plank (see p. 214) position
with your feet hip-width apart.
Performance description: Bend
your right knee and with a
springing movement, bring
your right thigh under the
right side of your torso.
Quickly spring back out to
the starting position while
jumping your left knee in toward your torso. Try to work
up to a minute of mountain
climbers in a row.
Tips: Keep your pace as fast as
possible.
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variations
SQUAT THRUSTS
(intermediate)
Start in a plank position with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees and
jump both feet forward simultaneously to your hands so that you’re in a crouch
position. Quickly extend your legs and jump both feet back behind you into the
starting position, and repeat. Make sure to keep your abs tight and don’t let your
lower back sag or drop. Try to work up to a minute of squat thrusts in a row.
STEP PLYOS
Muscles targeted: cardiopulmonary system, quads, inner and outer thighs
Starting position: Stand facing a vertical step box or 12-inch platform with
your right foot placed on top of it and your left foot on the ﬂoor behind it.
Performance description: Pushing off the right foot, hop up into the air and
land with your left foot in the center of the box and your right foot on the
ﬂoor. Exhale each time you push off the bench. Keep a fast pace in order to
keep your heart rate up.
Exercise Index
223
variations
Tips: Make sure you push off the foot that is placed on the step, not the foot
on the ﬂoor. Always land with a slightly bent knee. Keep your abs tight and
your pace fast.
SQUATTING LATERAL STEP PLYOS
(intermediate)
Stand sideways with your right foot on the center of a vertically placed step box or 12-inch
platform and your left foot on the ﬂoor. Pushing off the right foot, hop laterally up and to
your right, landing with your left foot in the
center of the box and your right foot on the
ﬂoor. Repeat on the left leg. Exhale each time
you push off the bench. Keep a fast pace in order to keep your heart rate up.
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HIGH KNEES
Muscles targeted: cardiopulmonary system, abs, hips, quads, calves
Starting position: Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
Performance description: Jog in place, bringing your knees up in front as high as
you can.
Tips: Keep your pace as fast as possible. Lean your upper body back and tilt
your pelvis forward and upward toward the ceiling.
BUTT KICKS
Muscles targeted: cardiopulmonary system, hamstrings
Starting position: Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
Performance description: Now, jog in place, but bring your heel up to your buttocks each time you lift your foot.
Tips: Keep your pace as fast as possible and really try to kick yourself in the
buttocks.
Now that you know the moves, it’s time to get moving. Here’s a sample 12week workout program that I have designed to get you into the right rhythm.
Use the exercises and your own experience to guide you. From now on, this is
all about you. I’ve given you the tools, the know-how, and the challenge: now
it’s up to you to go out, do the work, and reap the ultimate reward.
Exercise Index
225
WEEKS 1 AND 2
Perform 3 sets of 15 reps for each circuit with a comfortable amount of weight
resistance that doesn’t compromise your form. Try not to rest in between sets or
circuits. (G = Grip, DB = Dumbbell)
Monday
Chest Shoulder
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
Push-ups
Squats
Circuit 2
Dumbbell Chest
Flys
Sumo Squats
Tuesday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
Wide-G Lat
Pull-Downs
Stiff-Leg Dead
Lifts
Circuit 2
Medium-G Seated
Cable-Row
Static Lunges
(on each leg)
Wednesday
REST
REST
REST
Thursday
Chest Shoulders
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
DB Chest Presses
Hack Squats
Circuit 2
DB Chest Flys
Sumo Squats
Friday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
Terry Pulls
Side Lunges
Circuit 2
Close-G PullDown
Leg Press
Saturday
1 hour cardio of your choice: 5-minute warm-up at 70% of
max heart rate
5-minute cool-down at 65% of max heart rate
Sunday
REST
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REST
REST
Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Circuit 4
Lateral Raises
Jumping Jacks
(1 minute)
Basic Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep-Extensions
Jump Rope (1 minute)
Scissors
Circuit 3
Back Extensions
Hamstring Curls
Circuit 4
Dumbell Curls
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Bicycle Crunches
Circuit 5
Concentration Curls
Jump Rope (1 minute)
Russian Twists
REST
REST
REST
Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Circuit 4
Shoulder Press
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Basic Crunches
Circuit 5
Kick-Backs
Jump Rope (1 minute)
Reverse Crunches
Circuit 3
Supermans Pelvic
Thrusts
Circuit 4
Hammer Curls
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Plank Twists
Circuit 5
Reverse Curls
Jump Rope (1 minute)
50 Bicycles
50 minutes must be at 80–85% of max heart rate
REST
REST
REST
Exercise Index
227
WEEKS 3 AND 4
Perform 2 sets of 15 reps for each circuit with a comfortable amount of weight
resistance that doesn’t compromise your form. Try not to rest in between sets or
circuits. (G = Grip, DB = Dumbbell)
Monday
Chest Shoulder
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
Push-ups
Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Dumbbell Chest
Flys
Sumo Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
Tuesday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
Wide-G Lat
Pull-Downs
Stiff Leg Dead
Lifts
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Seated Cable Row
Forward Lunges
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
Wednesday
REST
REST
REST
Thursday
Chest Shoulders
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
Dumbbell Chest
Presses
Hack Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Dumbbell chest
Flys
Sumo Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
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Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
Lateral Raises
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Basic Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Extensions
Jump Rope (1 minute)
Scissors
Circuit 3
Back Extensions
Seated Hamstring Curls
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
Dumbell Bicep Curls
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
25 Bicycles
Circuit 5
Concentration Curls
Jump Rope (1 minute)
Russian Twists
REST
REST
REST
Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
Military Shoulder Presses
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Kick-Backs
Jump Rope (1 minute)
Reverse Crunches
Exercise Index
229
WEEKS 3 AND 4 (continued)
Friday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Saturday
1 hour cardio activity of your choice: 5-minute warm-up at
70% of max heart rate
5-minute cool-down at 65% of max heart rate
Sunday
REST
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Circuit 1
Terry Pulls
Side Lunges
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
REST
Circuit 2
Close-G PullDowns
Leg Presses
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
REST
Circuit 3
Supermans
Pelvic Thrusts
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
Hammer Curls
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Plank Twists
Circuit 5
Reverse Curls
Jump Rope (1 minute)
50 Bicycles
50 minutes must be at 80–85% of max heart rate
REST
REST
REST
Exercise Index
231
WEEKS 5 AND 6
Perform 3 sets of 12 reps for each circuit. Build up your weight resistance as
much as possible without compromising your form. Try not to rest in between
sets or circuits. (G = Grip, DB = Dumbbell)
Monday
Chest Shoulder
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
Push-ups
Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Incline Dumbbell
Flys
Sumo Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
Tuesday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
Close Grip Rows
Stiff Leg Dead
Lifts
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Medium-G Pulldowns
Backward Lunges
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
Wednesday
REST
REST
REST
Thursday
Chest Shoulders
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
Cable Cross-overs
Hack Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Cable Flys
Sumo Squats
Mountain
Climbers
(1 minute)
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Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
Lateral Shoulder Raises
while doing Jumping
Jacks (1 minute)
20 Ball Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Press-Downs
Jump Rope (1 minute)
50 Scissors
Circuit 3
Low Rows
Lying Hamstring Curls
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
Dumbbell Bicep Curls
while doing Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
50 Bicycles
Circuit 5
Concentration Curls
Jump Rope (1 minute)
50 Crunch Twists
REST
REST
REST
Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
W Shoulder Presses
while doing Jumping
Jacks (1 minute)
Basic Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Kick-Backs
Jump Rope (1 minute)
25 Leg Raises
Exercise Index
233
WEEKS 5 AND 6 (continued)
Friday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Saturday
1 hour cardio of your choice: 5-minute warm-up at 70% of
max heart rate
5-minute cool-down at 65% of max heart rate
Sunday
REST
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Circuit 1
Terry Pulls
Cross-over
Lunges
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
REST
Circuit 2
Wide-G Lat
Pull Down
Leg Presses
Butt Kicks
(1 minute)
REST
Circuit 3
Supermans
One-Leg Pelvic Thrusts
Jumping Jacks (1 minute)
Circuit 4
Hammer Curls while
doing Jumping Jacks (1
minute)
Side Plank (1 minute)
Circuit 5
Reverse Curls
Jump Rope (1 minute)
50 Bicycles
50 minutes must be at 80–85% of max heart rate
REST
REST
REST
Exercise Index
235
WEEKS 7 AND 8
Perform 3 sets (reps may vary) for each circuit. Build up your weight resistance as
much as possible without compromising your form. Try not to rest in between
sets or circuits. (G = Grip, DB = Dumbbell)
Monday
Chest Shoulder
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
Push-ups
Squats
Step Plyos
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Incline Dumbbell
Chest Flys
Sumo Squats
Step Plyos
(1 minute)
Tuesday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
Wide-G Rows
Stiff Leg Dead
Lifts
Butt Kicks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 2
Med.-G Pulldown
Backward Lunges
Butt Kicks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Wednesday
REST
REST
REST
Thursday
Chest Shoulders
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
Cable CrossOvers
Hack Squats
Step Plyos
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
Cable Flys
Sumo Squats
Plyo Steppers
(1 minute)
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Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Jumping Jacks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 4
Lateral Shoulder Raises
while doing Jumping
Jacks (11⁄2 minutes)
20 Ball Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Press-Downs
Jump Rope (11⁄2 minutes)
50 Scissors
Circuit 3
Low Rows
Hamstring Curls
Jumping Jacks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 4
Dumbbell Bicep Curls
while doing Butt Kicks
(11⁄2 minutes)
50 Bicycles
Circuit 5
Concentration Curls
Jump Rope (11⁄2 minutes)
50 Crunch Twists
REST
REST
REST
Circuit 3
Bench Dips
Leg Extensions
Jumping Jacks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 4
Military Shoulder Presses
while doing Jumping
Jacks (11⁄2 minutes)
Basic Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Kick-Backs
Jump Rope 11⁄2 minutes)
25 Leg Raises
Exercise Index
237
WEEKS 7 AND 8 (continued)
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Saturday
1 hour cardio of your choice: 5-minute warm-up at 70% of
max heart rate
5-minute cool-down at 65% of max heart rate
Sunday
REST
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Circuit 1
Terry Pulls
Crossover Lunges
Butt Kicks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 2
Wide-G Lat
Pulldown
Leg Press
Butt Kicks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Friday
REST
REST
Circuit 3
Supermans
One-Leg Pelvic Thrusts
Jumping Jacks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 4
Hammer Curls while
doing Jumping Jacks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Side Plank (11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 5
Reverse Curls
Jump Rope (11⁄2 minutes)
50 Bicycles
50 minutes must be at 80–85% of max heart rate
REST
REST
REST
Exercise Index
239
WEEKS 9 AND 10
Perform 3 sets (reps vary per exercise) for each circuit. Build up your weight resistance as much as possible without compromising your form. Try not to rest in
between sets or circuits. (G = Grip)
Monday
Chest Shoulder
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
5 Push-ups
(hold midpoint,
position for 3 sec.
on each rep)
Wall Squat
(1 minute)
Step Plyos
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
15 Incline
Dumbbell Flys
Sumo Squats
(hold midpoint
position
1 minute)
Step Plyos
(1 minute)
Tuesday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
5 Wide-G Lat
Pull-Downs (hold
midpoint position
for 3 sec. on each
rep)
20 Step-Ups Jog
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 2
12 Med.-G Rows
20 Side Lunges
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
Wednesday
REST
REST
REST
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Circuit 3
15 Tricep Press Downs
5 Leg Extensions (hold
midpoint position for
5 sec. on each rep)
Jump Rope (1.5 minute)
Circuit 4
Anterior Shoulder Raises
while doing Jumping
Jacks (11⁄2 minutes)
20 Double Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Extensions
Jump Rope (11⁄2 minutes)
10 Hanging Abs
Circuit 3
20 Back Extensions
5 Hamstring Curls (hold
midpoint position for
5 sec. on each rep)
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 4
Hold Squat position and
do 10 Alternating
Dumbbell Bicep Curls on
each arm
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
20 Russian Twists
Circuit 5
Cable Curls
Side Planks
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
REST
REST
REST
Exercise Index
241
WEEKS 9 AND 10 (continued)
Thursday
Chest Shoulders
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
5 Dumbell Chest
Presses (hold
start position for
5 sec. on each
rep)
10 One-Leg
Squats
Squatting Lateral
Step Plyos
Circuit 2
15 Cable Flys
Sumo Squats
(hold midpoint
position
1 minute)
Squatting Lateral
Step Plyos
(1 minute)
Friday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
5 Terry Pulls (hold
start position for
5 sec. on each rep)
30 Cross-Over
Lunges
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 2
8 Med.-G
Rows 25 fast Leg
Presses
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
Saturday
1 hour cardio of your choice: 5-minute warm-up at 70% of
max heart rate
5-minute cool-down at 65% of max heart rate
Sunday
REST
242 W I N N I N G
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REST
REST
Circuit 3
15 W Shoulder Presses
Leg Extensions
Jumping Jacks
(11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 4
12 Lateral Shoulder
Raises
Mountain Climbers
(11⁄2 minutes)
20 Double Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Kick-Backs
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
25 Leg Raises
Circuit 3
20 Supermans
50 Pelvic Thrusts
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 4
10 Hammer Curls
30 Lunges
Side Planks
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
Circuit 5
Reverse Curls
Jog (11⁄2 minutes)
10 Side Leg Raises
50 minutes must be at 80–85% of max heart rate
REST
REST
REST
Exercise Index
243
WEEKS 11 AND 12
Perform 2 sets (reps vary per exercise) for each circuit. Build up your weight resistance as much as possible without compromising your form. Try not to rest in
between sets or circuits. (G= Grip)
Monday
Chest Shoulder
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
25 Push-ups
15 Jumping
Squats
Circuit 2
10 (heavy)
Dumbbell
Chest Flys
15 Jumping
Sumo Squats
Tuesday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Circuit 1
10 Wide-G
Rows
30 Step-Ups
Jog (2 minutes)
Circuit 2
12 Close-G
Pull-Downs
20 Side Lunges
Jog (2 minutes)
Wednesday
REST
REST
REST
Thursday
Chest Shoulders
Triceps Quads
Rectus Abs
Circuit 1
15 Dumbell
Chest Presses
(laying on ball)
15 Jumping
Squats
High Knees
(1 minute)
Circuit 2
15 Cable Flys
Sumo Squats
(hold midpoint
position 1 minute)
Squatting Lateral
Step Plyos
(1 minute)
244 W I N N I N G
BY LOSING
Circuit 3
20 Bench Dips
Backward Lunges
Jog (2 minutes)
Circuit 4
12 Bent-Over Shoulder
Raises
Jog (2 minutes)
25 Double Crunches
20 Ball Crunches
Circuit 5
Tricep Extensions
Jog (2 minutes)
15 Hanging Abs
Circuit 3
20 Back Extensions
12 Lying Hamstring
Curls
Jog (2 minutes)
Circuit 4
12 Stiff Leg Dead Lifts
with Dumbbell Bicep
Curls
Jog (20 minutes)
25 Russian Twists
Circuit 5
12 Hammer Curls
100 Bicycles
Jog (2 minutes)
REST
REST
REST
Circuit 3
12 Shoulder Presses
Wall Squat (1 minute)
Jump Rope (2 minutes
Circuit 4
12 Lateral Shoulder
Raises
Mountain Climbers
(11⁄2 minutes)
25 Double Crunches
Circuit 5
15 Tricep Kick-Backs
Jog (2 minutes)
Plank (1 minute)
Exercise Index
245
WEEKS 11 AND 12 (continued)
Friday
Back Biceps
Hamstrings
Glutes Obliques
Saturday
1 hour cardio of your choice: 5-minute warm-up at 70% of
max heart rate
5-minute cool-down at 65% of max heart rate
Sunday
REST
246 W I N N I N G
BY LOSING
Circuit 1
8 (Heavy) Terry
Pulls
20 Jumping
Lunges
REST
Circuit 2
10 Dumbbell
Rows
20 fast Leg Presses
Stairs (2 minutes)
REST
Circuit 3
12 Low Rows
Reverse Planks (1 minute)
Jog (2 minutes)
Circuit 4
20 Hammer Curls
30 Step-Ups
20 Side Planks
Circuit 5
10 Reverse Curls
Jog (2 minutes)
100 Bicycles
50 minutes must be at 80–85% of max heart rate
REST
REST
REST
Exercise Index
247
17
Keeping It Going
kay, you’re still reading, so I can only assume you’re doing the work and
are well on your way to achieving your weight-loss goals. Feels pretty
good, right? No matter where you are on your journey, you should consider yourself on your way, and now it’s time for some parting advice.
My program is about total health. Those changes you’re implementing in
your life? PERMANENT, Baby. Just because you might get into a size 8, or
have a six-pack to show off for summer, doesn’t mean you can throw caution
to the wind, no way. I am hoping that after all you’ve read and learned here,
you will now look at your life in new ways, with deeper insight and understanding. The bottom line is you can never go back to your old way of life, if
you want to maintain your success. You’re on the wagon, my friend. Like any
recovery, just because you’re rehabilitated doesn’t mean you can’t relapse.
All that soul-searching and honest examination from the Self section has
to continue. As you grow and change, so does the need for self-discovery. It’s
an ongoing process, and it can continue only with the right motivation and
mindset. All those behavior modiﬁcations and healthy life-afﬁrming habits
O
249
you learned have to stay in place every day for the rest of your life. I know, it
sucks, it’s hard, whatever. It’s the truth, and you’re better off hearing it.
Your metabolic type and your unique nutritional needs will never change.
You have to stay conscious of your ideal macronutrient ratios so that your
metabolism can continue to function optimally, and you will be less likely to
backslide. You can’t go back to eating garbage. You should still avoid those
bad fats, processed grains, and reﬁned sugars. The good news is that it will get
easier as you become accustomed to the feeling of giving your body what it
thrives on, and eventually it will become a gut instinct to make the right food
choices.
Here’s where you do catch a break: Once you have reached your ideal
weight, your exercise and diet regimes can come down a notch in intensity.
Since you don’t need to lose weight, you don’t need to create caloric deﬁcits
anymore. So go back and reﬁgure your active metabolic rate (AMR), which
will have changed since you’re in better physical condition. Now that you’re
maintaining rather than losing, your AMR represents the number of calories
you can have in a day, rather than a number you have to stay below. Obviously
you should keep it healthy, but you can eat more.
You don’t have to work out like a ﬁend anymore, either. You’re not trying
to burn through excess stores of fat. To maintain your weight and your
strength, three or four hours a week is enough. Stick to the guidelines and
principles I laid out for you in the Sweat section so that you continue to maximize your time at the gym, but you don’t have to go all out anymore. The
hard part’s over—relax and enjoy the rewards.
Now, go with God, Baby—you can do this. You’re doing it right now. If you get
lost, go back to the beginning, I’ll be right here if you need me!
250 W I N N I N G
BY LOSING
Index
abdominals (abs)
exercises for, 207–21
muscle groups, 138
active metabolic rate (AMR),
54–57
maintaining weight and, 250
setting weight-loss goals, 58,
60–61
adductors, 136
aerobic classes, 145–46
aerobics. see cardio
alcohol, 77, 80, 83–84
all-or-nothing mentality,
33–35
American food, at restaurants,
128–29
amino acids, 87
anatomy of muscles, 135–39
animal fats, 91, 92–93
anxiety, as cause of overeating,
17
apple body shape, 7
arms. see also biceps; triceps
muscle groups, 139
Atkins diet, 63–64, 85–86, 98
back
exercises for, 175–83
muscle groups, 137–38
bad carbs, 86
bad fats, 93–94
balanced oxidizers, 65,
81–84
foods to avoid, 83–84
ideal foods for, 81–83
basal metabolic rate (BMR),
54–57
behavior modiﬁcation, 37–45
avoiding dangerous
situations, 39–41
causes of overeating, 38–39
curbing mindless eating, 39,
42–43
cutting portion size, 44–45
learning healthy patterns,
18–19, 41–42
slowing down, 43–44
biceps, 139
exercises for, 196–200
Biggest Loser, The (NBC TV
show), xiv–xv, 6, 9–10,
23, 30, 34, 39, 51, 53,
63–64
bikes, recumbent, 145
blood sugar (glucose), 64–65,
87
body mass index (BMI), 7–8
body types, 7
boredom, as cause of
overeating, 39
bouillon cubes, 105
breakfast, 129
recipes for, 106–8
buttocks (gluteals), 135–36
exercises for, 158–74
caffeine, 77–78, 80–81, 84
calorie-counter books, 59
calories (caloric intake),
53–61
AMR and, 54–57, 60–61
counting your, 58–59
on food labels, 95–96
plateau effect and, 60–61
setting weight-loss goals,
8–9, 58
251
calories (continued )
total weekly intake of, 58,
60–61
calves, 136
exercises for, 158–61
carbohydrates (carbs), 85–89
for balanced oxidizers, 82–83
for fast oxidizers, 76
on food labels, 96–99
glycemic load index table of
foods, 88–89
physical training and, 152
for slow oxidizers, 79
cardio, 141–46
duration of, 142
interval cardio exercises,
222–25
schedule for, 141–42
types of exercise, 143–46
cheerleaders, 27
chest
exercises for, 184–90
muscle groups, 137
Chinese food, 128
cholesterol, and fats, 92, 93
“cholesterol-free,” on food
labels, 101
condiments, 127
cooking tips, 103–5. see also
recipes
cookware, nonstick, 104
cool-downs, 149
current relationships,
troubleshooting
obstacles in, 22–25
daily activity level, and AMR,
55–57
dangerous situations, avoiding,
39–41
daytime grazing, 39, 42–43
defeatist attitude, 29–35
deltoids, 137
exercises for, 191–95
depression, as cause of
overeating, 17
dessert, 129
recipes, 118–22
diet myths and
misconceptions, 49–52
dieter’s plateau, 60–61
diet pills, 50–51
252 I n d e x
dining out, 125–29
dinner, recipes for, 112–18
discouragement, about
workouts, 154–55
dorsi ﬂexors, 137
duration
of cardio exercise, 142
of workouts, 148–49
eating out, 125–29
elliptical trainers, 144
emotional triggers, 15–19
empty stomach, working out
on an, 142
endorphins, 133
erector spinae, 138
excuses, making, xiv, 38–39, 41
exercise(s), 157–247. see also
cardio; workout routine
anatomy and, 135–39
beneﬁts of, 133–34
Anterior Shoulder Raise, 194
Back Extension, 182–83
Backward Lunge, 159
Ball Crunch, 209
Ball Squeeze, 174
Basic Crunch, 207–8
Bench Dips, 201
Bent-Over Shoulder Raise,
195
Bicycle Crunch, 210–11
Butt Kicks, 225
Cable Chest Flys, 188–89
Cable Curls, 200
Close-Grip Pull-Down, 177
Close-Grip Push-Up, 186
Concentration Curls, 198
Cross-Over Lunge, 160
Crunches, 207–12
Crunch Twist, 208
Curls, 169–70, 196–200
Dips, 201–2
Double Crunch, 212
Dumbbell Bicep Curls, 196
Dumbbell Chest Flys, 189
Dumbbell Chest Press,
186–87
Dumbbell French Press, 205
Dumbbell Row, 179–80
Dumbbell Tricep Extension,
204
Extended Plank, 217
Extensions, 173–74, 182–83,
204
Flys, 188–90
Forward Lunge, 158
Hack Squat, 163
Hammer Curls, 197
Hamstring Curls, 169–70
Hanging Abs, 212–14
Hanging Abs with a Twist,
213
Hanging Curls, 199
High Knees, 225
Hollowman, 219–20
Incline Dumbbell Curls,
199
Incline Dumbbell Flys, 190
Incline Dumbbell Press,
187–88
Jumping Lunge, 161
Jumping Squat, 164
King Squat, 165
Lateral Leg Raises, 220
Lateral Shoulder Raise,
193–94
Leg Extensions, 173–74
Leg Press, 166–67
Legs-Up Crunch, 209
Low Row, 181
Lunges, 158–61
Lying Hamstring Curl,
169–70
Lying Leg Raises, 217–18
Medium Underhand PullDown, 176–77
Military Shoulder Press,
191
Modiﬁed Push-Up, 185
Mountain Climbers, 222
Oblique Side Crunch, 208
One-Leg Pelvic Thrust, 172
One-Leg Squat, 166
Pelvic Thrusts, 171–72
Pendulum Lunge, 159
Planks, 214–17
Plank Twists, 215
Platform Stiff Leg Dead Lift,
168
Plyo Push-Up, 185
Press-Downs, 202–3
Presses, 186–88, 191–93, 205
Pull-Downs, 175–77
Pulls, 178–79
Push-Ups, 184–86
Raises, 193–95, 217–18, 220
Reverse Crunch, 210
Reverse-Grip Curls, 198
Reverse-Grip Pull-Down,
176–77
Reverse-Grip Shoulder Press,
193
Reverse-Grip Tricep PressDown, 203
Rope Press-Down, 203
Rows, 179–81
Russian Twist, 221
Scissors, 218–19
Seated Cable Row, 180–81
Seated Hamstring Curl,
169
Sequential Superman, 182
Side Lunge, 160
Side Plank, 216
Single Leg Extension, 174
Squats, 161–66
Squat Thrusts, 223
Squatting Lateral Step Plyos,
224
Standing Straight Arm Lat
Pull, 178
Static Lunge, 159
Step Plyos, 223–24
Step Up, 170–71
Stiff Leg Dead Lift, 167–68
Straight Leg Bench Dips,
202
Straight Leg Hanging Abs,
214
Sumo Squat, 164
Superman, 181–82
Terry Pulls, 179
Tricep Kick Backs, 205–6
Tricep Press-Down, 202–3
Unstable Plank, 216
Wall Squat, 162
Weighted Crunch, 211
Wide-Grip Lateral PullDown, 175–76
W Shoulder Press, 192
Zottman Curls, 197
exercise classes, 145–46
exercise expenditures, and
AMR, 56–57
“extra lean,” on food labels,
102
fad diets, xiii, 49, 50–51, 85–86
family support. see support
systems
fans, 27
fast-food restaurants, 125–29
fast oxidizers, 64–65, 75–78
foods to avoid, 77–78
ideal foods for, 75–77
fat deposits, 7, 134
“fat-free,” on food labels, 100,
101
fats (oils), 91–94
bad, 93–94
for balanced oxidizers, 83
for fast oxidizers, 76–77
on food labels, 96–99
good, 92–93
physical training and, 152
for slow oxidizers, 80
ﬁber, 97, 127
ﬁtness routine. see exercise;
workout routine
Food and Drug
Administration (FDA),
93–94, 101–2
food commercials, as cause of
overeating, 39, 41
food labels, 95–102
calories on, 95–96
macronutrient ratio, 96–99
misconceptions about,
100–102
forearms, 139
French food, 129
frequency of workouts, 148–49
fruits and vegetables, 76, 79,
82. see also recipes
gastric bypass surgery, 50–51
genetics, and weight loss, 64
glucose (blood sugar), 64–65,
87
gluteals (buttocks), 135–36
exercises for, 158–74
glycemic index, fad diets use of,
85–86
glycemic load index (GLI),
86–89
balanced oxidizers and, 84
fast oxidizers and, 77
table of foods, 88–89
goals, 5–14
breaking down your, 10–14
realistic vs. unrealistic, 5–8
target weight standards, 8–9,
58
good carbs, 87
good fats, 92–93
grains, 76, 79, 83
grazing, 39, 42–43
hamstrings, 136
exercises for, 158–72
healthy habits. see behavior
modiﬁcation
“healthy,” on food labels, 102
heart disease
exercise and, 133
fats and, 92, 93
heart rate, maximum, 153
“high-ﬁber,” on food labels,
102
high-intensity training, 148,
152–53
hips. see also gluteals
muscle groups, 135–36
hobbies, 18–19
hunger, 16–17
hydrogenated oils, 93–94
iliopsoas (hip ﬂexors), 136
incentives, for achieving goals,
10–13
Indian food, 129
inﬂammatory disease, and fat,
92
inner voice, changing your,
30–33
insulin, 64–65, 86–87
intensity of workouts,
152–54
internal check-in, 16–18
interval cardio moves, 222–25
Italian food, 129
Japanese food, 129
jealousy, of friends, 24–25
jogging, 143
jumping jacks, 145
labels. see food labels
latissimus dorsi (lats), 137
exercises for, 175–82
“lean,” on food labels, 102
Index
253
legs
exercises for, 158–74
muscle groups, 136–37
legumes, 76, 79, 83
life-afﬁrming behaviors. see
behavior modiﬁcation
“light,” on food labels, 102
“low calorie,” on food labels,
101
low-carb diets, 63–64, 85–86,
98
“low cholesterol,” on food
labels, 101
lower back
exercises for, 175–83
muscle groups, 138
lower legs
exercises for, 158–74
muscle groups, 136–37
“low-fat,” on food labels, 101
“low sodium,” on food labels,
102
lunch, recipes for, 109–11
macronutrient ratio, on food
labels, 96–99
magic pills, 50–51
maltitol, 98–99
maximum heart rate, 153
metabolic rate, 54–57, 60–61
metabolic typing (type), 63–84.
see also oxidizers
classiﬁcations, 64–65, 75–84
tests for determining, 66–75
Mexican food, 128
mindless eating, 39, 42–43
miracle surgeries, 50–51
monounsaturated fats, 92–93
muscle groups, 135–39
myths about diets, 49–52
negative attitude, 29–35
negative inﬂuences, 22–25
negative self-talk statement,
32–33
net (impact) carbs, on food
labels, 97–99
network, building your, 25–28
niacin test, 74
“no-sugar-added,” on food
labels, 100
nuts/seeds, 76–77, 80, 83, 92
254 I n d e x
obliques, 138
exercises for, 207–21
oils. see fats
omega-3 fatty acids, 92
opportunities, turning
problems into, 17–18
overcooking meats, 78, 84
overeating
common causes of, 38–39
learning behaviors
incompatible with,
18–19, 41–42
overtraining, 154
oxidizers (oxidation), 64–84
balanced, 65, 81–84
fast, 64–65, 75–78
slow, 65, 78–81
tests for determining, 66–74
pear body shape, 7
pectoralis major and minor,
137. see also chest
peripheral heart action (PHA),
151
physical activity. see cardio;
exercise; workout
routine
plateau effect, 60–61
polyunsaturated fats, 92
portion size, 44–45, 59, 127
positive attitude, 29–35
positive inﬂuences, 22, 25–28
powerlessness, 31
processed foods, 86–87, 93, 94
proportionate body shape, 7
proteins
for balanced oxidizers, 81–82
for fast oxidizers, 75–76
on food labels, 96–99
physical training and, 152
for slow oxidizers, 78–79
psychological (emotional)
triggers, 15–19
quadriceps (quads), 136
exercises for, 158–74
realistic expectations of body,
5–8
recipes, 106–23
cooking tips, 103–5
Albacore Tuna Melt, 109–10
Apple Sour Cream Pie,
119–20
Asparagus Frittata, 107–8
BBQ Pork Tenderloin,
117–18
Breakfast Burrito, 106–7
Broccoli and Cheese
Crustless Quiche, 109
Cauliﬂower and Goat’s
Cheese Purée (Faux
Mashed Potatoes), 110
Chicken Parmesan, 115–16
Chocolate Chip Cookies,
120
Crab Stuffed Zucchini,
116–17
Crawﬁsh Quesadillas,
113–14
Cream Cheese Rollups, 122
Crustless Cheesecake, 118
Famous Red Team Puffs,
108
Feta and Olive Meatballs,
111
French Toast, 106
Mexican Lasagna, 112
Smokey Buffalo Jerky,
122–23
Spicy and Cheesy Toasted
Pumpkin Seeds, 123
Spinach Casserole, 116
Tabil Spice Mixture, 111
Texas Chili, 112–13
Tiramisu, 120–22
Veggie Pasta, 114
Veggie Pasta with Italian
Chicken Sausage, 115
recordkeeping, 9–10, 58–59
rectus abdominus (eight-pack),
138
exercises for, 207–21
recumbent bikes, 145
“reduced calorie,” on food
labels, 101
reﬁned sugars, 86–87
relationships, troubleshooting
obstacles in, 22–25
relaxation, 42
repetitions (reps), 155–56
resistance level of exercise, 155
restaurants, 125–29
right attitude, 29–35
role models, 27
rope jumping, 145
rowing, 145
running, 143
sabotage (sabotaging
situations), 39–41
by others, 23–24
“salt-free,” on food labels, 102
“saturated fat-free,” on food
labels, 101
saturated fats, 93
self-conﬁdence, 31
self-image, 30–32
self-talk, changing your, 30–33
sequence of workouts, 150–52
serotonin, 87
serving size, on food labels,
95–96, 100–101
sets/repetitions, 155–56
shoulders, 137
exercises for, 191–95
simple carbs, 86–87
skim milk, 104
slowing down, 43–44
slow oxidizers, 65, 78–81, 87
foods to avoid, 80–81
ideal foods for, 78–80
snacks (snacking), 39, 42–43
recipes for, 122–23
social acceptance, as cause of
overeating, 38
“sodium-free,” on food labels,
102
South Beach diet, 85–86
split workout routines,
150–52
stair climbing, 143–44
starvation myth, 50
stress, and overeating, 16, 17
sugar alcohol (polyol), 98–99
“sugar-free,” on food labels,
100, 102
sugar substitutes, 103
supplements, 50–51
support systems, 21–28
building networks, 25–28
current relationships,
22–25
for dining out, 126
surgical weight-loss options,
50–51
sushi, 129
swimming, 144
tests, for determining
metabolic type, 66–75
Thai food, 128
torso. see also chest; latissimus
dorsi; shoulders
exercises for, 184–90
muscle groups, 137
training. see exercise; workout
routine
trans-fatty acids (trans-fats),
93–94
transverse abdominus, 138
exercises for, 212–14,
217–21
treadmills, 143
triceps, 139
exercises for, 201–6
triggers. see emotional triggers
tryptophan, 87
unrealistic expectations of
body, 5–6
unsaturated fats, 92–93
upper legs
exercises for, 158–74
muscle groups, 136
vanilla whey protein powder,
104
vegetable fats, 91, 92–93
vegetables, 76, 79, 82, 105. see
also recipes
cooking tips, 105
visualization, 9–10
vitamin C test, 74–75
waist-to-hip ratio method, 8–9
walking, 143
warm-ups, 141–42, 149
water weight, 61
weight-loss target goals, 8–9, 58
willpower, 37
workout routine (workouts),
147–56. see also exercise
discouragement about,
154–55
duration and frequency of,
148–49
intensity of, 152–54
sequence of, 150–52
sets/repetitions, 155–56
weeks
1 and 2, 226–27
3 and 4, 228–31
5 and 6, 232–35
7 and 8, 236–39
9 and 10, 240–43
11 and 12, 244–47
weight load, 155
written records, 9–10, 58–59
yo-yo dieting, 50
Index
255
About the Author
JILLIAN MICHAELS is best known as one of the trainers from the NBC hit
series The Biggest Loser. Jillian has also written Making the Cut: The 30-Day
Diet and Fitness Plan for the Strongest, Sexiest You. She has a line of workout
DVDs, a successful online program at www.jillianmichaels.com, and is AOL’s
ﬁtness coach for 2007. Jillian lives in Los Angeles with her beloved and faithful Chihuahua, Baxter.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite
HarperCollins author.
Credits
Designed by Jaime Putorti
Jacket design by Mucca Design
Jacket Photograph by Joseph Puhy
Co
opyright
WINNING BY LOSING. Copyright © 2005 by Jillian Michaels. All photographs
copyright © 2005 by Joseph Puny. All rights reserved under International and
Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you
have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read
the text of this
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